Christ on the Mount of Olives

c. 1450/1460

German 15th Century

Associated Names
German 15th Century

Artist

This is a painting of a religious scene featuring multiple figures in a stylized representation. The central figure with a halo is kneeling with hands clasped in prayer, looking upwards. Around the central figure, other characters, some also with halos, are seated or kneeling on green grass. In the background, a group of armed figures is depicted. An angel is shown in the upper right corner next to a tree branch and a goblet on a table. The scene is framed in an ornate border with symmetrical patterns of flowers and leaves in pink, green, and white. The figures are outlined in black with simple expressions, wearing robes colored in earth tones, red, brown, and beige. The composition suggests a scene of contemplation or a biblical narrative.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut, hand-colored in red lake, yellow, green, orange, brown, gray, and rose

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.464

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Schreiber, no. 190, State m

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Weiss & Co, Munich); Martin Aufhäuser [1875-1944], Munich, Holland, and Los Angeles; [1] purchased 19 August 1939 by Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, PA (L1760c and L1932d); gift to NGA, 1943.
[1] For more information on Aufhäuser's collection, see Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald Papers, Box 9; Lessing J. Rosenwald, Recollections of a Collector, Jenkintown, Pa, 1976, pp. 14-18, and Richard S. Field, Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts, Washington, D.C., 1965, Preface (np).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1941

  • The First Century of Printmaking 1400-1500, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1941, no. 3, repro.

1956

  • Selected Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, City Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, 1956.

1965

  • Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, NGA, 1965-1966, no. 34, repro.

1968

  • L'Incisione Europea dal XV al XX Secolo, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Turin, Italy, 1968. no. 5, repro.

Bibliography

1926

  • Schreiber, Wilhelm Ludwig. Handbuch de Holz- und Metailschnitte des XV Jahrhunderts. 8 vols. Leipzig: Verlag Karl W. Hierseman, 1926-1930.

1965

  • Field, Richard S. Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1965: no. 34.

Wikidata ID

Q64952899

You may be interested in

Loading Results