Artwork Details
19 x 17 in. (sight) 27 x 17 in.
Accession NumberThe Clowes Collection
CopyrightEuropean Painting and Sculpture Before 1800
Color PaletteProbably in the collection of the Italian line of the Savoy Family.{1} Hugo Kilényi [1840-1926], Budapest.{2} (E. and A. Silberman Galleries, New York); {3} Dr. George Henry Alexander] Clowes [1877-1958], Indianapolis, before January 1936;{4} Clowes Fund Collection, Indianapolis, 1958-2010 and on long-term loan to the Indianapolis Museum of Art since 1971 (C10059); given to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2010. {1} A partially damaged red wax seal, probably the Savoy family coat-of-arms, is present on the back of the painting. {2} Kilényi's collection was dispersed at auctions held at the Ernst Museum, Budapest, in 1917 and 1927. This painting, attributed at the time to Perugino, was not in either auction. {3} Prior to establishing a gallery in New York, Elkan and Abris Silberman had galleries in Vienna and Budapest, see for example the advertisement in Burlington Magazine, February 1926, p. xxiv. {4}Letter from Abris Silberman to G.H.A. Clowes, dated 14 January 1936, sending him an expertise by William Suida (IMA, Clowes Collection Archive).
The popularity of the Agony in the Garden as a devotional theme depended upon the identification of the worshiper with Christ's anguished contemplation of his betrayal and death. He prayed "let this chalice pass from me." In the painting, an angel sent by God offers a chalice that symbolizes his acceptance of death on the Cross. The three apostles who accompanied Christ have fallen asleep, despite his request that they keep watch while he prayed.
The composition is taken from a work by Perugino, and is attributed to his follower, Lo Spagna.
Exhibition Name
Venue
Dates
Paintings from the Collection of George Henry Alexander Clowes
John Herron Art Institute and Museum
October 3, 1959 - November 1, 1959
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