Updated 17 April 2025
On Display Permanent collection
On Display
The Garden of Gethsemane
| Date | c. 1570 (?) |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on panel |
| Size（cm） | 143.5 x 127 |
| Credit Line | Purchased |
| Standard ref. | Corti 43 |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1979-0004 |
The subject was drawn from the New Testament books Matthew and Luke. Christ, knowing of Judas's betrayal, went to the Garden of Gethsemane at the base of the Mount of Olives after the Last Supper, accompanied by three of his disciples, Peter, Jacob and John. There he prayed to God in his suffering; an angel gave him strength while his three disciples slept. Christ is the focal point of a triangular composition, with the three Disciples (from the left, Peter, John and Jacob) seen sleeping in the lower section. The Mannerist style can be seen in the richly varied forms and the flowing dynamism and tension in the composition. In the upper left Judas is shown leading the crowd that will arrest Christ, traditional iconography for this subject. Previously this work was thought to be a relatively early period painting dating to ca. 1545-46, but in terms of its style and an analysis of related drawings, it would seem that the work dates to the artist's final years. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no.17)
Provenance
Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland; Lord Carew Coll., Castletown; Auc., Sotheby's, London, July 16, 1952; Arcade Gallery, London, since 1952; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Norfolk (Virginia); Private Coll., U.S.A.; Newhouse Galleries Inc., New York, since 1978, by which sold to the NMWA, 1980.
Exhibition History
- 1954
- People into Pictures, Arcade Gallery, London, 0 1954 - 0 1954, cat. no. 2
- 1961
- Bacchiacca and His Friends: Florentine Paintings and Drawings of the Sixteenth Century, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 10 January 1961 - 19 February 1961, p. 64, cat. no. 75, repr.
- 1999
- Florence and Venice: Italian Renaissance Paintings and Sculpture from the State Hermitage Museum, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 20 March 1999 - 20 June 1999, cat. no. 43
Bibliography
- 1963
- Barocchi, Paola. Complementi al Vasari Pittore. Atti e Memorie dell'Accademia Toscana di Scienze e Lettere. vol. 28, 1963-64, p. 259, note 4.
- 1964
- Barocchi, Paola. Vasari Pittore. Milano, Edizioni per il club del libro,1964 (Collana d'arte del Club del Libro, vol. 9), pp. 130-131 (cited under no. 33b).
- 1981
- Annual bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 14 (1980), 1981, New Acquisitions (Painting). pp. 5-6, 11, New Acquisitions (Catalogue). pp. 16-17, col. repr.
- 1983
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1983 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 14, repr.
- 1989
- Corti, Laura. Vasari: catalogo completo dei dipinti. Firenze, Cantini, 1989, no. 43, repr.
- 1989
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1989 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 16, repr.
- 1990
- Catalogue of painting acquisitions: 1979-1989. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1990, pp. 75-76.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 17, col. repr.
- 2007
- Takanashi, Mitsumasa. Research Note: On the Historical Provenance and the Date of Giorgio Vasari's 《the Garden of Gethsemane》, in the NMWA Collection. Journal of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. no. 11, 2007, pp. 25-36, repr. [with English abstract]
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 17, col. repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 23, col. repr.