Agony in the garden. From: The small Passion

The Passion usually refers to the physical and spiritual suffering of Jesus Christ in the last days of his life. This subject was especially popular in Germany in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Church used art, especially in the form of woodcut prints, to tell the story to an often illiterate public. The iconography (use of symbols to explain the subject matter) was well developed by the late Middle Ages and was easily recognisable. In depicting the Passion, Albrecht Dürer could add something to traditional iconography and increase the number of stories depicted.

The cycle of the Small Passion that the artist started after his second journey to Italy (1505–1507), is a very detailed story of the martyrdom and death of Christ. While only a few of the plates are dated, these suggest that Dürer began with Christ's Entry into Jerusalem and concluded with The Last Judgement. However, as he was concluding the series in c. 1510, he added The Fall of Man, a Biblical antetype (foreshadowing) of the New Testament. The eventual cycle included not only the Passion itself but also stories from the Old Testament linked with the sacrifice of the Saviour and legends about the youth of Jesus. The focus therefore changed to a history of humankind with Adam and Eve as the source of its woes and Jesus as its salvation. 

The first edition was published in 1511, with the Latin text on the reverse; in Venice, in 1612, it was published with the Italian text. Publication took the form of a devotional boook of 38 leaves in small quarto format, comprising a title page, 36 woodcuts and a colophon (an end statement giving information about its authorship and printing, in this case with the printer identified as 'Albrecht Dürer, painter'. The Latin text was provided by the Benedictine theologian and monk Benedictus Chelidonius, who also wrote a longer text for the Large Passion, which was also published in 1511. The Small Passion was incredibly popular in European countries during the succeeding centuries. It was republished as a full cycle or as separate sheets.

The Agony in the Garden depicts the episode when, immediately after the Last Supper, Jesus took a walk in the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He felt great anguish and sadness, and said:  'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it', and then added: 'If this cup cannot pass by, but I must drink it, your will be done!' (Matthew 26:42). The Apostles Peter, John and James, are shown sleeping a stone's throw away, although Jesus had asked them to stay awake and pray. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Very shortly, Jesus will be betrayed by Judas and arrested by the Temple guards of the Sanhedrin, who are seen advancing in the distant right of this woodcut.

The famous Dürer scholar Heinrich Wolfflin calls this the most perfect of the series (see Walter Strauss, Albrecht Dürer Woodcuts and Wood Blocks, New York, 1980, p. 414). Strauss notes that 'this woodcut has been praised for the realistic rendition of the prayerful attitude of Christ and the sleeping disciples – they actually appear to be asleep, not merely with their eyes closed'.

See also: http://www.spaightwoodgalleries.com/Pages/Durer_Small_Passion3.html

Dr Mark Stocker, Curator Historical International Art                                    December 2016