Christ in Gethsemane by Heinrich Hofmann

On this canvas we see unfolding the opening scene of Jesus Christ’s atonement from Matthew 26:36-44, Mark 14:32-41, and Luke 22:39-46. The spiritual drama of Gethsemane is emphasized with spot lighting and the intense wringing of hands, yet Christ’s sensitively rendered face remains placid. The features of a garden have been reduced to flinty stones and a prickly thorn bush that prefigures a crown of thorns. The picture’s success lies in the appropriateness of its tone: the transformation of abject agony into a palatable scene of devotion. Christ’s solitude may well reflect Hofmann’s own isolation and reliance upon faith; his wife, who was often in poor health, passed away only months after the completion of Gethsemane, leaving Hofmann a widower for nearly 20 years