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The Agony in the Garden

1823–24
Not on view
Delacroix’s first official religious commission was a painting for the church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis in Paris. This study establishes the basic composition: Christ props himself up against a rock, bows his head, and raises his hand to acknowledge acceptance of his fate, announced by the mourning angels in the upper right. Delacroix’s use of wash, with its emphasis on tone, establishes the symbolic importance of light in the picture; it radiates from the angels and Christ himself amid the darkness of the garden.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Agony in the Garden
  • Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
  • Date: 1823–24
  • Medium: Brush and brown wash over graphite
  • Dimensions: Overall: 5 1/4 x 7 5/8 in. (13.4 x 19.4 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in memory of Jacob Bean, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.1135.4
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Studies of Horses, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite and traces of brown ink on laid paper
Studies of Horses
Eugène Delacroix
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head, Eugène Delacroix French, Pen and brown ink on tracing paper (mounted on heavy wove paper)
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head
Eugène Delacroix
1815–63
Les Français peints par eux-mêmes encyclopédie morale du dix-neuvième siècle. Paris, L. Curmer, 1840-1842.
Eugène Delacroix
19th century
La Pietà, Eugène Delacroix French, Etching on chine collé; second state of two
La Pietà
Multiple artists/makers
1852
Studies of a Goat, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite on wove paper
Studies of a Goat
Eugène Delacroix
1798–1863

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