Biblical scene

Lovis Corinth's composition depicts the explicit biblical scene that begins Christ's Passion - the prayer on Mount of Olives, which resembles a dreamlike vision. Jesus is rising above the ground in ecstasy and, with a violent movement, crossing his arms over his chest. He is staring at the figure of an angel emerging from the clouds. The messenger of God is holding a cup of bitterness, symbolising Jesus' imminent passion. Behind him, the mountainside descends steeply into the abyss, at the foot of which two disciples, James the Greater and John, the future Evangelist, sons of Zebedee, a fisherman, and a boat builder from the city of Capernaum, are lying asleep. The graphic created using the etching and dry point technique on handmade ribbed paper was published in Leipzig in the third annual portfolio for 1915 by the Vereinigung zur Förderung der Original-Graphik for the Verein der Freunde graphischer Kunst Association. In addition to Corinth's engraving bearing No. 1, the portfolio contained seven works by other artists, namely, Wilhelm Laage, Albrecht Leistner, Max Liebermann, Hans Alexander Müller, Walter Tielmann, Hans von Volkmann and Erich Wolfsfeld. Such graphic portfolios comprised selected works by different artists made in a single year. They served to present their oeuvre and sum up their achievements in a given period. Thus, it was possible to disseminate prints among graphic art lovers and collectors, often also experts in art research. The purpose of the graphic files was also to promote black and white art.Lovis Corinth was born in 1858 in Tapiau (now Gwardiejsk) in East Prussia and died in 1925 in Zandvoort in the Netherlands. He studied at the art academies in Königsberg and Munich. He supplemented his education in Antwerp and Paris at the private Académie Julian with Tony Robert-Fleury and William Bouguereau. From 1901, he lived and worked in Berlin. Their extraordinary expressiveness and drama distinguished his works.

Ewa Gwiazdowska