Agony in the Garden

1595 · The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

religious

After the Last Supper, Jesus withdrew to pray for the strength to accept his fate, accompanied by a number of his apostles. They fell asleep, leaving him to struggle alone. Cremonini has grouped the figures on opposite sides of a diagonal embankment, stark contrasts of light and dark underscoring their poignant separation.

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About the Artist

Giovanni Battista Cremonini

1550 – 1610

Italian painter, born in Cento, but mostly active in Bologna. His father Matteo Cremonini was also a painter. Giovanni Battista was active in fresco decoration of houses, he was aided by his cousin, Bartolommeo Ramenghi (1484-1542). One of his pupils was Odoardo Fialetti (1573-1638). His best works are at Bologna: The Assumption, in Santa Maria della Vita; The Annunciation, and the Death of St Francis, in San Francesco.

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