Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
The subject of the work, which can be dated to the beginning of the penultimate decade of the 16th century, fits fully into the intensely religious climate of Borromean art, responding to the official recommendations of San Carlo, which sanctioned the condemnation of inventions of manner in favor of composed and easily readable images. The canvas, while adhering to the austere climate of the time, stands out both for its extremely careful pictorial technique and for the evocative luministic effects that reinforce the naturalism of the composition. The naturalistic formation of Peterzano is evident in the rendering of the vegetation of the ground strewn with stones in the foreground, as well as in the nocturnal effect of the background, pierced by the flashes of the weapons that approach the darkness. The work comes from the Archbishop’s Picture Gallery and is part of the collection of Cardinal Cesare Monti (1593-1650).
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Artwork details
- Artist:
- Simone Peterzano (documentato a Milano dal 1572 al 1596)
- Title:
- Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
- Date:
- c. 1580
- Medium and technique:
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions:
- 132,5 × 102,5 cm
- Inventory:
- MD 2001.048.038
- Location
-
Location: Monti Collection, first floor
The Monti Collection comprises a group of paintings and drawings from the Archbishop’s Picture Gallery that reflect the collecting choices of Cardinal Cesare Monti (1593–1650). These were fully in keeping with the culture of Saint Charles Borromeo and the spirit of the Counter-Reformation: art, and painting in particular, was intended to encourage virtue and moderation among the faithful. The cardinal’s choices focused especially on the sixteenth-century Venetian school, painters active in Lombardy in the early seventeenth century, the followers of Leonardo and the Emilian school.
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