Giovanni Bellini, 'The Agony in the Garden', about 1458-60

The Agony in the Garden

Giovanni Bellini

Not on display

About the work

Overview

Christ’s disciple Judas – visible just beyond the river, leading a group of soldiers to Christ – has betrayed him. Aware of his imminent arrest and death, Christ prays; a cherub appears and presents him with a chalice. The chalice refers to the words of his prayer: ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt’ (Matthew 26: 39).

Here Bellini experiments with the style of his brother-in-law, Andrea Mantegna: the rock forms in the foreground on the left have straight edges and look, like Mantegna’s, as though they have been carved with a chisel. The draperies, too, resemble Mantegna’s in their crisp sharp folds.

Christ’s pink tunic blends with the peach light of the dawn sky, which highlights the undersides of the plump clouds. Bellini would continue to develop his extraordinary sensitivity for the changing effects of light on landscapes throughout his career.

In-depth

Christ has retreated to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He is in agony – he knows that one of his disciples, Judas, has betrayed him and that as a result he will be arrested, tortured and killed. Judas is visible just beyond the river, leading a group of soldiers to Christ. Three other disciples have come to keep watch but have fallen asleep.

As he prays, Christ looks towards a cherub who presents him with a chalice, reflecting how Christ talks about his future suffering in his prayer: ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt’ (Matthew 26: 39). The spiked fence post in the foreground – placed directly beneath the chalice – hints at the means of this suffering, bringing to mind the crown of thorns Christ was forced to wear at the Crucifixion. This reference to Christ’s torture links the chalice to the cup which bore the Eucharistic wine – shared by all at Mass and believed to transform into Christ’s blood. The association with contemporary Christian ritual is emphasised by the fact that the improbable rock formation which Christ kneels upon resembles a church altar, where the Mass would be received.

Giovanni Bellini painted this scene shortly after his brother-in-law, Andrea Mantegna, completed his version, as well as a depiction of the scene for the predella of the altarpiece for the church of San Zeno, Verona. Mantegna was based in Padua, near Venice, and it’s likely that Bellini was also working there for a short time in the 1450s. Both artists used a drawing of a similar scene by Bellini’s father, Jacopo, as the inspiration for the altar-like outcrop. As here, Jacopo’s drawing shows Christ facing away from the viewer and towards a distant hillside; Giovanni crowned the hill with an imposing fortress (intended to represent the city of Jerusalem). Giovanni’s version is closer to the drawn scene – both have gently rounded forms and sinuous lines, also found in the large expanses of sandy earth, the swirling dirt tracks and the cliff faces which look as though they have been eroded by desert winds. This bleak, almost lunar, landscape is perhaps intended reflect Christ’s psychological torment.

The scene shows Bellini experimenting with elements of Mantegna’s style. For example, some of the rock forms in the foreground have straight edges and look, like Mantegna’s, as though they have been carved with a chisel. The draperies, too, resemble Mantegna’s in their crisp sharp folds. Infrared reflectography shows that these two areas were drawn particularly carefully; the draperies are almost certainly based upon very detailed studies. Bellini was clearly taking very great care to emulate his brother-in-law’s style. The use of gold paint, called ’shell gold', painted in fine strokes as highlights on clothing is also drawn from Mantegna. Bellini used it here with great precision to show Christ bathed in the early morning light, but perhaps also to express his divinity. The clearest sign of Bellini’s debt to Mantegna is in his attempt to copy one of the sleeping disciples from his version. His foreshortening is not quite as effective as Mantegna’s.

Christ’s pink tunic blends with the peach light of the dawn sky, which highlights the undersides of the plump clouds. This soft, warm light gilds the entire scene. Bellini would continue to develop his extraordinary sensitivity for the changing effects of light on landscapes throughout his career.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Agony in the Garden
Artist: Giovanni Bellini
Artist dates: about 1435 - 1516
Date made: about 1458-60
Medium and support: egg tempera on wood
Dimensions: 80.4 × 127 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1863
Inventory number: NG726
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: William Thomas Beckford

Sir Joshua Reynolds

Provenance

Apparently owned by Consul Joseph Smith (d. 1770) at Venice. Presumably Sir Joshua Reynolds Sale, 13 March, 1795 (lot 48), bought by Walton. Beckford Sale, Fonthill, 16 (for 15) October, 1822 (lot 77); the same, 10 October, 1823 (lot 77), bought by Bentley. Edward Harman Sale, 28 May, 1847 (lot 412), bought by Bromley. Rev. W. Davenport Bromley Collection, where seen by Waagen; exhibited at Manchester, 1857 (Provisional Catalogue, No. 196; Definitive Catalogue, No. 89); Sale, 12 June, 1863 (lot 62), bought for the National Gallery.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2016

Painters' Paintings: From Freud to Van Dyck

The National Gallery (London)

23 June 2016 - 4 September 2016
2018

Mantegna and Bellini

The National Gallery (London)

1 October 2018 - 27 January 2019
2018

Mantegna and Bellini: Masters of the Renaissance

Gemäldegalerie (Berlin)

1 March 2019 - 30 June 2019

Bibliography

1795

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1812

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1822

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1847

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1857

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1863

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1865

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1871

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1894

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1895

G. Frizzoni, 'La Galleria Nazionale di Londra e i suoi recenti acquisti in fatto d'arte italiana', Archivio storico dell'arte, 1895, pp. 87-105
1898

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1900

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1901

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1910

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1912

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1912

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1913

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1923

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1930

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1932

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1934

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1935

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1937

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1945

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1947

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1948

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1951

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1957

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1957

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1957

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1959

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1960

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1961

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1962

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1966

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1967

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1968

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1969

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1972

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1974

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1974

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1975

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1977

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1978

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1978

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1978

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1978

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1982

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1986

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1987

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1989

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1989

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1989

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1990

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1990

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1990

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1991

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1991

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1992

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1993

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1993

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1994

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1994

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1995

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1995

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1995

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1995

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1996

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1997

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1998

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1999

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1999

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2000

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2001

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About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images

Insights

Caroline Campbell, Head of Curatorial, discusses 'The Agony in the Garden', by Giovanni Bellini, an incredible painting by one of the most influential and celebrated Venetian artists. The talk also looks at Bellini’s pioneering portrayal of natural light, and compares his depiction of this biblical story to a painting on the same theme by his brother-in-law, Andrea Mantegna.

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Giovanni Bellini: A pioneering Venetian artist | National Gallery

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More works by Giovanni Bellini

(Showing 6 of 14 works)

A Dominican, with the Attributes of Saint Peter Martyr

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In 1252 Saint Peter Martyr, a Dominican friar from Verona, was assassinated in an ambush by a group of heretics. This picture was once thought to be a ‘portrait’ of the saint: we can see the hilt of a dagger which has been plunged into his heart, and a cleaver lodged in his head.X-ray imagery sho...

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Doge Leonardo Loredan

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Leonardo Loredan knows that he is being looked at, but he does not return our gaze. He is the doge, the ruler of the Venetian Republic; elected in 1501, he ruled until his death in 1521.He wears white silk damask robes woven with gold and silver metal thread, clothing reserved for the most splend...

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Madonna of the Meadow

Giovanni Bellini

The Virgin Mary adores the Christ Child sleeping on her lap. Giovanni Bellini was one of the first Italian painters to use natural settings to enhance the meaning of his pictures. Here, the still Virgin contrasts with the landscape, where the varying shapes of the clouds, from thin and wispy to f...

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Portrait of Fra Teodoro of Urbino as Saint Dominic

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Saint Jerome reading in a Landscape

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An elderly man, barefoot and with an impressive grey beard, is perched on a rock, engrossed in a book. This is Saint Jerome, translator of the Bible into Latin. His only companion is an endearing lion which lies peaceably in the corner – he had tamed it by removing a thorn from its paw.Bellini pa...

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The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr

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This scene tells the story of the murder of Saint Peter Martyr, a friar of the Dominican Order who was killed by members of the Cathars, a heretical sect whose teachings he had spoken against publicly. The saint is shown on the left – he has collapsed to his knees, an axe lodged in his skull. His...

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The Blood of the Redeemer

Giovanni Bellini

Christ is shown resurrected after dying at the Crucifixion, his triumph over death reinforced by the way he cradles the Cross on which he was crucified. His body is weak and pale – we can see his ribcage, and his cheekbones stick out of his gaunt face. The focus of the image is the wound in Chris...

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The Dead Christ supported by Two Angels

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This type of image of Christ after his death – close up, showing his naked torso – originated in Byzantium (the Eastern Christian empire) but was very popular in Italy from about the thirteenth century. It was supposed to promote meditation upon Christ’s suffering and death.Christ is supported by...

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The Virgin and Child

Giovanni Bellini

During the 1470s and 1480s Bellini produced a series of small-scale images of the Virgin and Child, destined for the homes of his Venetian patrons who used them as aids to private prayer.The naked Christ lies on a marble parapet, probably intended to recall his dead body in the tomb – a reminder...

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The Virgin and Child

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Small-scale images of the Virgin and Child made for private worship were a speciality of Bellini’s. This picture was thought to be by the artist’s assistants, but recent technical analysis showed that it was made by Bellini. The holy figures are separated from a landscape by a cloth of honour, an...

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The Adoration of the Kings

Workshop of Giovanni Bellini

In order to meet the huge demand for his paintings, Giovanni Bellini had a large workshop of assistants who produced works in his style, under his supervision – like this one, which shows the Three Kings worshipping the infant Christ. According to the Gospel of Matthew they followed a star – we c...

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The Circumcision

Workshop of Giovanni Bellini

According to the Gospel of Luke, Christ was circumcised, like all Jewish baby boys, when he was eight days old (Luke 2: 21). He is shown naked, sitting on a cushion upon a table or altar, clenching his little fists as a priest performs the ritual. His mother, the Virgin Mary, gently props him up;...

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The Virgin and Child

Workshop of Giovanni Bellini

Demand for Bellini’s small-scale images of the Virgin and Child was so high that he had a large workshop of assistants who worked under his supervision, producing paintings in his style.Here Christ is dressed in a white tunic, a gold cloth draped around his chubby body, and is propped up against...

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The Virgin and Child

Workshop of Giovanni Bellini

Small-scale images of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child made for private worship were one of Bellini’s specialities, and there was intense demand for them. Bellini had a large workshop of assistants who worked under his supervision, producing paintings in his style. This is one of those works, whi...

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You've viewed 6 of 14 works