Christ at the Mount of Olives

Unknown artist

Irrespective of its consequences, Dürer implemented the motif “Christ am Oilberg” in 1515 as a single leaf. On the night before his crucifixion, Christ prays Gethsemane in the garden. His disciples James, John and Peter sleep apart from Christ in the guardian of the oil tree, which visually reinforces the impression of being alone with his fears. Above it appears the compassionate dreamy angel with the suffering skeleton, while from the background the warmongers are already approaching the events. Implementation is an early attempt to iron. During a journey with Heinrich Joachim Jäck (1777-1847), the library manager of the Royal Library Bamberg, Joseph Heller acquired the printing plate from the artist Johann Georg Schaedler (1777-1886) in Innsbruck in 1821. As Dürer’s only surviving eraser plate, it can still be found today in the stock of the Bamberg State Library (see copper plate 25), where prints were sporadically made until the middle of the 20th century.