Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, supported by an angel, pen and brown ink, over traces of red chalk, on laid paper, 18,5 x 13,5 cm, laid down on another laid paper, mounted, framed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Private collection, Italy.

The present drawing depicts the moving scene of Christ collapsing in the arms of an angel in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he had become aware of the Passion that awaits him. The story was mentioned in 1536 by Pietro Aretino in his work comprising three volumes "Della Humanità del Christo" and was subsequently taken up as a subject by numerous artists in Venice.
Stylistically, the drawing can be attributed to an artist active in Venice in the second half of the 16th century, who may have been familiar with the works of Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) and Palma il Giovane (1544-1628). Two technically and stylistically comparable drawings in pen and brown ink, - one of which is a study of the same subject and the other a sketch of the "Adoration of the Shepherds", formerly attributed to Palma Giovane and Alessandro Maganza - are kept in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. no. 5160, 5191). Another drawing with a study of the "Pietà", formerly attributed to Palma Giovane, is in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York (inv. no. 1982.46).
The three drawings mentioned are also part of a group of about 50 pen-and-ink drawings attributed to El Greco by Nicholas Turner and thought to date from the artist's Italian period (see N. Turner, 'A Proposal for El Greco as a Draftsman,' Master Drawings, vol. 45, no. 3 (2007), pp. 291-324; and R. Scorza, 'El Greco: "Calligrafia," "Disegno," and Context,' Master Drawings, vol. 51, no. 4 (Winter 2014), pp. 429-42). El Greco came to Venice around 1565 and immediately entered Titian's workshop. There he experienced a period of fundamental importance for his further artistic work as a painter and draughtsman. Prior to this, only five drawings were considered to be secure works by the artist until Turner made the first attempt to re-examine the artist’s oeuvre of drawings in a juxtaposition with the works of his Venetian contemporaries. Many of the drawings assigned to that group by Turner in 2007, like the three sheets mentioned above, had previously been attributed to 16th-century Venetian artists such as Tintoretto and Palma il Giovane, because they stylistically show strong leanings towards these artists. In Turner's opinion, the drawing offered here can also be assigned on the basis of stylistic features to the group of sheets that he attributes to El Greco's Italian period. Even if some of the sheets show a stronger chiaroscuro and a coarser handling of the pen and wash, the similarities, especially with the three sheets mentioned, are nevertheless obvious.
Despite these arguments and the stylistic similarities with that group of drawings possibly associated with El Greco, however, his oeuvre remains the subject of art historical research in terms of the drawings attributed to him. Based on a comparison with other Venetian drawings of the time influenced by artists such as Paolo Veronese, Palme il Giovane and Alessandro Maganza, however, there is no doubt that the present drawing can also be attributed to a Venetian artist from the late 16th century.

We are grateful to Dr. Nicholas Turner, who kindly suggested an alternative attribution to El Greco by means of a high resolution digital photograph.