Agony in the Garden (Giovanni Bellini)

The Agony in the Garden is an early painting by the Italian Renaissance master Giovanni Bellini, who painted it around 1458-60. It is in the National Gallery, London. It is painted in egg tempera on wood panel, measuring 80.4cm by 127cm. The painting depicts a biblical scene following the Last Supper wherein Judas has betrayed Christ and now pursues him where he prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, accompanied by the disciples Peter, James, and John. The piece bears visual similarity to the version by Andrea Mantegna, Bellini's brother-in-law, meaning the two paintings are often studied in the context of one another. The painting utilizes many common elements of Renaissance symbolism in order to foreshadow Christ's crucifixion and the presence of God in the piece.

Description
The piece, painted in egg tempera on wood, portrays Christ kneeling on the Mount of Olives in prayer, with his disciples Peter, James and John sleeping near to him. In the background, Judas leads twelve Roman soldiers to capture Christ. A cherub, holding a golden chalice, floats directly above Christ as he prays. In the background, a blue-peach dawn sky sits atop a verdant, hilly landscape, punctuated by the city of Jerusalem at the left edge of the piece. Below the city, a leafless tree stands in a central plane of the painting with a stone wall and stairs. The scene features curving paths throughout the background landscape, leading to a mid-ground featuring Judas and the soldiers, then to the three apostles and Christ in the foreground. The rightmost edge of the piece features a patch of soil, fenced-in with thorned wooden stakes directly beneath the cherub's chalice. A rippled body of water flows through the center of the painting, separating the space of Christ from Judas.

Biblical Story
The painting refers to an event in Jesus Christ's life described in the Synoptic Gospels of the New Testament, chronicling the final days before the crucifixion. The garden referred to in the title of the painting is the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ lead the apostles Peter, James, and John. The agony in the garden precedes the betrayal of Christ by Judas, though according to Gospel text Christ awakens his apostles as Judas and the Roman soldiers ascend the Mount of Olives to capture him. Christ's agony refers to the pain of betrayal by his own apostle, Judas, which is documented in the Gospel text: "'Sit here while I pray.' He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, 'I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.' (Mark 14:32-42)"

Inspiration
The picture is closely related to the similar work by Bellini's brother-in-law, Andrea Mantegna, also in the National Gallery. It is likely that both derived from a drawing by Bellini's father, Jacopo. The young Giovanni Bellini likely collaborated with or took inspiration from Mantegna due to his recent of the Agony in the Garden, though actual evidence of this collaboration does not exist. However, the painting exhibits stylistic elements of Mantegna's work indicating the relation between the two artists and their works. One significant instance of inspiration taken from Mantegna in the painting is the copying of the rightmost apostle in the foreground, whose clothing and foreshortened pose match a figure from Mantegna's version. Other sources note comparisons on how each artist depicts the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Notably, an article in the January 1977 volume of The Burlington Magazine by art historian Marco Chiarini highlights criticism towards Mantegna for his handling of the visual hierarchy of figures in the painting; Bellini, however, receives praise for denoting Christ as the center of the narrative. Due to the familial relationship between Mantegna and Bellini and subsequent borrowing of visual language and ideas between the two artists, their works are sometimes interpreted in the context of one another.

Symbolism
In the scene, Christ directs his prayer upwards to a chalice-wielding cherub in the sky. The Gospel of Luke in the New Testament confirms the presence of an angel in the Agony in the Garden, represented here as an infant figure with wings and human characteristics. Known as putto, these beings denote angelic presence in a scene and often serve as a point of communication to or from God. In The Agony in the Garden, combining the putto and a chalice foreshadows Christ's suffering and connects the scene to the Last Supper. According to Matthew 26:39, Christ prays to God, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me," essentially connecting the bearing of the Eucharistic wine—Christ's blood—during the Last Supper to the disciples with the sacrifice of Christ for their salvation, all encompassed with the appearance of the chalice. The thorned fence posts directly beneath the putto—referencing the crown of thorns—further direct the viewer to reflect on the coming suffering of Christ and the meaning of sharing Eucharistic wine at Mass for Christians.

Bellini includes numerical symbolism in the piece as well. For instance, the three apostles Peter, James, and John lay sleeping behind Christ arranged in a triangular formation. This triangular shape references the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the idea that these three forces conceptualize God as a whole. Use of triangulation in this case likely reinforces the presence of God in the scene as Christ calls upon him. Further, in the background of the painting twelve soldiers follow Judas, a connection to the twelve apostles present at the Last Supper, which occurs directly before the Agony in the Garden. At the meal, Christs announces one of the twelve present would betray him, forecasting his capture by Judas and the Roman soldiers depicted in The Agony in the Garden. In the painting, that Judas is followed by twelve soldiers reflects his dissent from Christ's word.

History
The painting was amongst five paintings including Bellini's Portrait of a Mathematician that was damaged in a suffragette protest by Grace Marcon (aka Frieda Graham) in 1914. She was sentenced to six months but she was released the next month weak from a hunger strike protest.

Until the mid-19th century Early Renaissance paintings were regarded as curiosities by most collectors. This one had probably belonged to Consul Smith in Venice (d. 1770), was bought by William Beckford at the Joshua Reynolds sale in 1795 for £5, then sold in 1823 with Fonthill Abbey and repurchased by Beckford at the Fonthill Sale the next year (as a Mantegna) for £52.10s. It was bought by the National Gallery for £630 in 1863, still a low price for the day.