Antwerp School; second half of the 17th century.

Antwerp School; second half of the 17th century.
"Prayer in the Garden".
Oil on copper.
Frame of the nineteenth century.
Measurements: 58 x 74 cm; 88,5 x 105 cm (frame).
The work is part of the Antwerp school, one of the most dynamic and refined artistic centers of northern Europe. A direct heir to the tradition of the Flemish primitives, this school maintained its aesthetic principles for a long time, favored by intense political, economic and cultural exchanges. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the painting developed in the Netherlands, and especially in Antwerp, reached a very high technical level and exerted a decisive influence on other European schools, including the Italian.
This devotional painting depicts Jesus in the Garden of Olives at the moment when an angel descends to comfort him, while his disciples Peter, John and James sleep beside him (Matthew 26:37; Mark 14:33). The Gospels relate how Jesus, overcome by a deep sadness, withdraws to pray on the Mount of Olives, followed by the apostles. Once there, he withdraws from them to pray in solitude, spiritually facing the imminence of the crucifixion. This episode marks the beginning of Christ's inner Passion, a silent agony of the soul that precedes physical suffering. While the apostles succumb to sleep, an angel appears to strengthen Jesus in the moment of greatest trial: the last and greatest of temptations, in which, with full knowledge of his destiny, he can choose to flee from his enemies or accept his divine mission, even at the cost of his life.