Who painted Agony in the Garden (San Zeno)?

Andrea Mantegna painted Agony in the Garden (San Zeno) in 1457.

What Bible passage does Agony in the Garden (San Zeno) depict?

Agony in the Garden (San Zeno) depicts the biblical scene from Matthew 26:36-45.

Where is Agony in the Garden (San Zeno) located?

Agony in the Garden (San Zeno) is housed at Musée des beaux-arts, Palais des ducs et des Etats de Bourgogne, Dijon.

Agony in the Garden (San Zeno) by Andrea Mantegna

Share Facebook X Pinterest Reddit LinkedIn Email

From 1456 to 1459, Mantegna devoted himself to the monumental altarpiece commissioned by Gregorio Correr, abbot of the Benedictine monastery of San Zeno in Verona. The main panels are still in place on the high altar of the church, while the predella elements are divided between Tours and Paris. To place his personages in an all'antica vestibule running along the whole width of the main register, Mantegna took as his model Donatello's bronze altar in the Basilica of Sant'Antonio in Padua. He pushes illusionism to such an extent that he makes the natural light of the edifice, falling from a window to the right, correspond to that of the painting's fictive space, and juxtaposes the columns of the carved frame with the pilasters of the painted loggia.

The three predella panels show his fascination for the art of Flemish masters, examples of which he could have seen in Venetia: as in the Adoration of the Shepherds he multiplies realistic notations. The deep sense of nature transpiring here, the gentleness of some personages owe much to Giovanni Bellini, to whom Mantegna is still very close. But after this moment of intense poetry, he returns to a more austere and cerebral style, adopted a few years earlier in the Agony in the Garden in London.

Details

Artist: Andrea Mantegna
Created: 1457 - 1459
Medium: tempera on panel
Dimension: 94cm × 71cm
Passage: Matthew 26:36-45
Housed at: Musée des beaux-arts Palais des ducs et des Etats de Bourgogne, Dijon

Found in: Matthew, Matthew 26, 15th century, Agony in the Garden, San Zeno altarpiece

Matthew 26:36-45

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go there and pray.”

37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and severely troubled.

38 Then he said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch with me.”

39 He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire.”

40 He came to the disciples, and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What, couldn’t you watch with me for one hour?

41 Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 Again, a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup can’t pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done.”

43 He came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

44 He left them again, went away, and prayed a third time, saying the same words.

45 Then he came to his disciples, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Matthew 26:36-45 · World English Bible

The artist

Andrea Mantegna

1431 - 1506

Isola di Carturo, Italy

Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431 – September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality. His flinty, metallic landscapes and somewhat stony figures give evidence of a fundamentally sculptural approach to painting. He also led a workshop that was the leading producer of prints in Venice before 1500.