Lot 344

Attributed to MARCELLO VENUSTI (Como, 1512 - Rome, 1579)
"The prayer of Jesus at the garden of Gethsemane"
Oil on panel
57 x 78 cm
3.750 - 4.500 €

The artwork is a translation into painting of a famous drawing by Michelangelo (Uffizi). After the Last Supper, Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to accept the sacrifice imposed on him by the Father's will, accompanied by his disciples Peter, James, and John.

The composition unfolds horizontally, and the figure of Christ is repeated twice to resolve the three different narrative moments: the invocation and the drama of fear, the invitation to Peter not to fall into the temptation of sleep, and the final acceptance of his own sacrifice (Mt 26:36-46; Mk 14:32-42).

Michelangelo, and through him Venusti, represents human weakness—and then the choice—to which we are all destined, exactly like Peter, emblem of the Church, standing before Christ, whom he will soon deny three times before accepting God's plan.