The Agony in the Garden

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The Agony in the Garden

Artist Domenikos Theotokopoulos, called El Greco (Greek, active in Spain, 1541-1614)

Dateabout 1590-1595

DimensionsPainting: 40 1/4 x 44 3/4 in. (102.2 x 113.7 cm)
Framed: 54 1/2 in. x 58 3/4 x 3 in. (138.4 x 149.2 x 7.6 cm)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1946.5

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 15

Label TextWith his intensely personal style, El Greco (“the Greek”) is one of the most original artistic visionaries of any era. Born Doménikos Theotókopoulos on the Greek island of Crete, he trained in Venice and Rome before settling in Toledo, Spain, where he painted this picture. Jesus is shown praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, outside Jerusalem, just before his arrest for his teachings (Judas and the Roman soldiers are approaching at the right). His disciples Peter, James, and John sleep at left. The consciously manipulated scale of the elongated figures, the intentionally jarring colors, and the deliberately confusing space (where exactly is the angel in relationship to the sleeping apostles?) add to the drama and emotion of the scene and capture Christ’s spiritual struggle as he agonizes over his coming crucifixion. Combining aspects from all four biblical accounts of the narrative for his own interpretation of the story, El Greco gives visual form to Christ’s metaphor in Matthew 26:42—"Oh my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.”Published References

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40 Masterpieces, St. Louis, City Art Museum of St. Louis, 1947, no. 19, p. 52, repr. p. 53, (as "Agony in the Garden").

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Comstock, Helen, "An Important El Greco Enters a Museum," Connoisseur, vol. 120, 1947, p. 42, repr. p. 40.

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Davies, David, El Greco, Oxford, 1976, pp. 13-14, repr. (col.) fig. 17.

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Exhibition HistoryNew York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Spanish Paintings from El Greco to Goya, 1928, no. 26.

Cambridge, Fogg Art Museum, 1932-1933 (on loan from Arthur Sachs).

Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, 1933, no. 167.

New York, Knoedler, El Greco, 1941, no. 4.

Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, Spanish Painting, Mar. 16-Apr. 27, 1941.

Omaha, Joslyn Memorial Museum, 1942.

St. Louis, City Art Museum of St. Louis, 40 Masterpieces, 1947 (as "Agony in the Garden").

Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, El Greco, 1947.

Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Masterpieces of Religious Art, 1947, no. 19.

Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Le triomphe du maniérisme européen, 1955, no. 60.

Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, The Venetian Tradition, 1956.

Madrid, Museo del Prado; Washington, National Gallery of Art; Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art; Dallas, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, El Greco of Toledo, 1982-1983.

Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1986.

St. Petersburg, Russia, Hermitage, 1987-88.

Leningrad, Hermitage, El Greco: Agony in the Garden, Nov. 1987-Jan. 1988.

Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art; Nara Prefectural Museum of Art; Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Art Gallery, El Greco Exhibition, 1986-1987.

London, National Gallery, 2004.

Tournai, Belgium, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tournai, Le monde est beau. Formes et couleurs de l’harmonie naturelle, March 22 – July 22, 2013.

Toledo, Spain, Museo de Santa Cruz, El Greco of Toledo, Mar. 14–Jun. 14, 2014.

Paris, France, Grand-Palais; Chicago, Illinois, Art Institute of Chicago, El Greco (working title), October 14, 2019-October 19, 2020.