The first Sorrowful Mystery: the Agony in the Garden

Image and text credit: The Agony in the Garden, Durer

Christ's struggle is already over. He seems to be staring at the cup. The disciples are far in the background. The Saviour kneels, untouched by the raging storm; only His hands, ready to receive the chalice, reveal emotion. Dürer is as inventive as ever. This drawing too gives the impression of a tough and impetuous pen drawing rather than an engraving and already takes advantage of the etching technique in order to blend the clair-obscur effects of the preceding phase with the expressive literalism and grand pathos of the Large Passion. The plate of this etching is preserved at the Staatsbibliothek in Bamberg.