Rembrandt van Rijn
Dutch, 1606-1669
The Agony in the Garden, c. 1657
Etching and drypoint on Japan paper

Surrounded by darkness of night, Christ is utterly alone until an angel arrives to comfort him. Rembrandt van Rijn conveys a highly expressive interpretation of this trying moment, in which Christ must accept God’s will and his own fulfillment of Scripture. Christ’s expression is sorrowful, but resigned. With outstretched arms, gently tilted head and concerned face, the angel imagined by Rembrandt provides physical and psychological support, and seems to have come just in time. True to the biblical text, disciples slumber in the left foreground. A crowd in the distance (behind the angel’s wings) led by Judas, advances toward Christ to arrest him.

This atmospheric nocturnal scene shows Rembrandt’s innovative experimentation. By the 1650s, Rembrandt begins dragging excess ink from incised lines to other areas of the image, rather than wiping it away, resulting in shadowy surroundings that intensify the apprehensive, grave mood. Here, Rembrandt carefully wipes away ink from the angel and Christ to suggest heavenly light. Rembrandt was the first artist to harness the full potential of drypoint, magnifying sumptuous tonal effects and creating unparalleled depth in his prints.