The hidden signs in "The prayer of Jesus in the garden" of Mantegna
Article by Laurence Tardy* published on the Protestants dans la Ville website (France) On August 17, 2018, freely translated by Giacomo Tessaro
If the spectator, at first glance, is grasped by the contrast between the solitude and anguish of Jesus and the abandonment of the disciples who surround him, in a second reading, the signs of renewal can reveal themselves under the brush of Mantegna.
To Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506) one was ordered altarpiece Composed of a virgin with the child assisted on the throne, surrounded by musician angels and accompanied by some saints painted on the side panels, for the main altar of the monastery of San Zeno of Verona. Three tables are united by a higher horizontal element (architrave), decorated with garlands, which brings them together in the same space. Below, three panels represent passion. This altarpiece in 1797 was brought to France by Napoleon; When it was returned to Italy, the elements of the lower part (predella) remained in France and were replaced with copies. The central table, depicting the Crucifixion, is located at Louvre; The prayer in the garden and the Resurrection They are located at the Musée de Beaux-Arts in Tours.
After the last dinner Jesus retires to the hill of Gethsemani, to the garden of the olive trees, with Pietro, Giacomo the Maggiore and Giovanni, to whom he asks to watch and pray with him. But the apostles have fallen asleep, because they trust in their teacher and do not share the torments of this night with him. The moment represented is the dawn: a sweet light makes it manifests the large pink rock at the foot of which Jesus is in prayer, the arms resting on a gray rock, his eyes raised to the sky: he is turning to his father because he moves away from him the torture. The tension of the leg, with the foot about to get up, suggests an escape from its destiny; However, he will accept the glass proposed to him by an angel.
The apostles sleep and ignore that their eternal salvation and the future of the world are playing that instant. Mantegna represents them in poses that take into account the perspective, "in glimpse", which accentuate the relaxation of the bodies in the unknown of the extreme suffering of the one who have not been able to accompany. Pietro is spread in total comfort, the solar colors of his guise contrast with the darker ones of John, sitting with his head inclined on the arm, who sleeps with his half -open mouth. Giacomo is lying on the belly, his pink tunic is pale compared to the colors of Christ. What can mean the sleep of the apostles? Perhaps the greatest battles are invisible, why are they fighting against the powers of doubt and in the solitude of the soul?
The scene takes place in a garden where a tree, electrocuted to death, supports a liana dense of foliage and fruits, a symbol of resurrection. On the other hand, on the sides of Jesus, two lush trees of fruits are full of promises. A little further on, two side by side flanks, the bees that buzz early in the morning.
A moment suspended in silence, before daily life recovers what is his. The city seems to awaken to a new day, animated by clouds full of mystery. Mantegna shows us, on the left of the dead tree, a hare, elsewhere symbol of life and death as it tends into cemeteries; Hence the sliding towards the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. The hare crosses a bridge that climbs over a river fed by a canalization whose water, forming a waterfall, falls on a pile of stones: a pure sound, which covers the deaf steps of Judas, dressed in rose, which guides the soldiers who come To arrest Jesus. Judas is preparing to cross the bridge, to commit the irreparable. The apostles sleep, but Jesus knows that his time has come.
* Laurence Tardy has worked for the Ministry of Culture and for that of national education dealing with art history and cultural mediation; In addition, he is a teacher at the Louvre school.
