Christ on the Mount of Olives

This drawing is from the painting series The Large Passion by Albrecht Durer. He was a painter who lived in the middle ages, specifically 1497-1528. He left a mark in the world with his painting Christ on the Mount of Olives.

This artwork depicts a sombre mood. It is a picture of Jesus Christ on the Mount of Olives. During this time, Christ was mourning for Jerusalem because people had turned his father's house, the temple, into a market place. Truly, this was a gloomy moment and who better to capture it than Albrecht. This wonderful artwork is currently stored at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C in the U.S.A. Here, art lovers get some eye candy there while they view the work of some great men in history like Albrecht. This particular painting depicts the misery Christ went through during that time, and Albrecht captured every aspect of that moment. The mood set is simply heartbreaking.

Albrecht mainly used engravings for most of his pieces. He was quite fond of this method of drawing. As he progressed, body colour and watercolours became his new favourites. As much as painting techniques were not quite as advanced as today, his paintings always came out superb. He went on to be a pioneer in exploring new and better ways of painting. Albrecht drew this particular piece in the year 1515. He was residing in Vienna, Austria. This drawing rose to fame because of the attention and detail that went into it. It was a masterpiece, and not many artists can do such a great job. Actually, even replicas don’t turn out as good.

There are two more related artworks. These two drawings touch directly on the life of Jesus of Nazareth. They are: Christ taken captive and Christ on the cross with the Virgin and St. John. They are all incorporated into the large passion series. They are all gloomy paintings that depict a desolate mood. During Albrecht’s tour to Italy, he was exposed to the work of Giovanni Bellini. It is said that this is where he drew most of his inspiration. In fact, Albrecht once confessed that his best artist was Giovanni of Italy. Durer found Giovanni’s work to be rather interesting and clever. He got admiration for Giovanni and thus got his inspiration. The large passion series was an exceptional collection of paintings. They represent Christianity. When Christ wept on the mountain of olives, it was a significant moment for Christians. It represented the Church as a holy place that should not be mixed with worldly desires.