Agony in the Garden (Perugino)

Agony in the Garden
Agony in the Garden
	Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Agony in the Garden is a painting by the

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

.

History

The work was painted for the church of the convent of San Giusto alle mura together with the

Crucifixion. Renaissance art biographer Giorgio Vasari saw them in side altars of the church of San Giovanni Battista alla Calza, after the original location had been destroyed during the Siege of Florence

in 1529. It was moved to the Uffizi in the 20th century.

The dating of the work is disputed: it varies from 1482, the year of Perugino's return from Rome, to a slightly later period, although before the end of the century, when the artist started to use only line oil, which in these works is used only at an experimental level.

The painting was restored in 1998.

Description

Christ is portrayed in center of the panel above a clear sky, kneeling in the

James

); the triangle is connected to the painting's sides by the symmetrical line of the hills. Behind Jesus is a lake landscape, a typical element of the Italian painting at the time, with a fortified city and an ancient bridge.

At the sides, two groups of soldiers, led by Judas Iscariot, are closing to arrest Jesus.

Sources

Garibaldi, Vittoria (2004). "Perugino". Pittori del Rinascimento (in Italian). Florence: Scala.