Christ on the Mount of Olives (from the "Small Passion")

Artist Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1528 Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire)

Date1511

Mediumwood engraving mounted on paper

Dimensionsblock: 5 × 3 7/8 in. (12.7 × 9.8 cm)
sheet: 5 × 3 7/8 in. (12.7 × 9.8 cm)

ClassificationsPrints & Printmaking

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, bequest of the estate of Earl Stroh

Object numberPC2006.66.4

DescriptionA woodcut engraving of a man praying to an angel in the top left emerging from behind clouds, while three men sit below, two looking distressed and the other having fallen asleep.

This woodcut is from the series "The Small Passion," first published in 1510 by Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471 - 1528), representing the Passion of Christ, whose foundational narrative is found in the Christian New Testament. In this scene, aware of his impending arrest and subsequent crucifixion, Christ has gone to the Mount of Olives with three disciples, the apostles James, the beardless young John, and Peter, who has fallen asleep while holding a sword. Christ prays, stating, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). In Dürer's composition, an angel appears in the upper left of the sky holding a cross, essentially answering Christ's entreaty by bearing the symbol of his suffering and revealing his life's purpose to the viewer.

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