Christ on the Mount of Olives

Christ on the Mount of Olives by Albrecht Dürer and Georg Mack the Elder, created in 1508, exemplifies the collaborative and luxurious nature of early 16th-century German printmaking. Classified as a print, this piece depicts the deeply human subject of Christ’s final, agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane just before his betrayal and arrest.

While Dürer supplied the foundational engraving, this particular example owes its striking presence to the subsequent hand-coloring executed by Elder. The work goes far beyond a typical black-and-white impression, utilizing a highly complex medium. It is an engraving on laid paper that has been meticulously enhanced with watercolor and gouache pigments, notably heightened with shimmering applications of gold and silver. This extensive customization suggests the piece was intended for a wealthy devotional patron who sought a unique, mixed-media object rather than a standard, commercially available print. The entire sheet is further mounted onto a piece of parchment that is elaborately decorated with ornate floral borders, a common practice in specialized book and print customization during the period of 1501 to 1550.

The collaborative involvement of Elder, adding meticulous pigment to Dürer’s famed composition, transforms the object from a simple reproduction into a bespoke artwork. The preservation of this heavily embellished work offers crucial insight into collecting habits and artistic commerce within the German cultural sphere of the early Renaissance. Although the underlying design of Christ on the Mount of Olives is now widely known and prints of Dürer’s works often reside in the public domain, this uniquely hand-colored state is a rarity. This important piece is maintained in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, preserving its detailed history for scholars and the public.