Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 105. (Budapest, 2006)

NEW ACQUISITIONS - ÚJ SZERZEMÉNYEK - ZSUZSA URBACH: Barend (Bernaert) van Orley: The Agony in the Garden

THE BACK SIDE OE THE PANE! James the Greater, who were present in the Garden of Gethsemane. The landscape with the almost barren hills in the foreground, the menacingly towering rocks and the extensive mountainous scenery, painted in minute detail unusual for Van Orley, play an especially important role in the composition. Light radiates on the nocturnal landscape from the violet-white robe of the angel holding the chalice. The transcendental apparition is the source of light itself, which accentuates the shadows cast in the foreground at the feet of Peter and John and beneath Peter's discarded sword. At the garden gate to the right torch bearing soldiers appear with Judas, whose figures Van Orley only rendered sketchily. The nocturnal landscape with the moon hiding behind the cliff lends an especially dramatic setting to Christ's last prayer before the Passion, thus the sacred landscape is a vehicle conveying the message of the painting. Zsuzsa Urbach