The Agony in the Garden

The topography of this painting recalls the sparse open countryside of the Lombardi region. Bellini had grown up in natural surroundings like this and his love for nature married well with his fervent religious beliefs. Despite never travelling further than Mantua, he was however aware of the discoveries in perspective and drawing being made in Florence thanks to his father Jacopo's travels. This new learning inspired Bellini to render the natural world around him with a realism and religious devotion not seen before. Indeed, he chose to depict landscapes with which he was familiar rather than imagine elaborate and idealised scenes. This painting is often compared to an earlier painting on the same subject by his brother in law, Mantegna, whose landscape is, by comparison, dramatic, somewhat cramped and heavily populated by angels and soldiers in close proximity. Bellini exchanges Mantegna's spires of Jerusalem for small hill top towns, much closer in reality to the settlements found in the countryside around Venice at the time. The sparseness of the countryside allows the procession of soldiers to be placed further back into the distance thereby generating a powerful sense of impending fate; the calm as the storm clouds gather in the distance. 

Another remarkable aspect of this painting is Bellini's rendering of the tantalizing dawn light. The pink warmth of the rising sun is almost tangible as it catches the river and rocks and floods into the broad valley beyond the viewer. The light ripples over the back of Jesus's robes with an iridescence enhanced by the addition of gold to the blue. By continuing to harness light and color in this way, Bellini earned his reputation as the master at generating atmosphere

This painting depicts the common religious theme of Christ's time of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before being taken prisoner by the Roman soldiers as a result of Judas' betrayal. In this version Christ kneels at a rock mound in prayer, while the disciples, Peter, James and John, sleep on the ground behind him. Visible in the clouds above the kneeling Jesus is an angel, holding aloft a cup and paten as symbols of Christ's sacrifice to come. Beyond these foreground figures, in the distance, winding their way along the road, are the Roman soldiers with Judas in the lead. Bellini's fine religious parable acts also as an excellent example of his respect for the natural landscape. 

This tempera on panel painting is in The National Gallery in London, UK