The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-05-19
THE PASSION IN ART.

country place which is called Gethse-
mani, and He said to His disciples:
Sit you here, till l go yonder and
pray. And taking with Him Peter
and the two sons of Zebedee, He be-
gan to grow sorrowful and to be sad.
Then He said to them: My soul is
sorroWful even unto death; stay you
here, and watch with me. And going
little further He fell upon His face
praying, and saying: o my Father! if
it is possible, let this chalice pass
from me. Nevertheless, not as | will,
but as Thou wilt"
These words of Holy Writ are
motif frequently treated in art.
st. Marks Church in Venice possesses
among it's artistic treasures mag
nificent composite mosaic dividing the
subject into four distinct scenes. Ac-
cording to a we'll authenticated tradi-
ton the church was begun in the year
$50, in the Roman basilica style, to
harbor the relics of St. Mark brought
over from Alexandria by the Vene-
tians. Rebuilt in 976 after disastrous
fire, it was gradually transformed into
Byzantine edifice, with all the
wealth and elaborate ornamentation
of the style. The fifteenth century
witnessed the addition of Gothic ele-
ments, so that the magnificent struc-
ture actually represents the historic
evolution of many centuries OF Chris
tan architecture The mosaics repre-
senting scenes from the Passion, in
particular Christ in the garden of
olives, are in the southern and east
ern parts; they date back to the
| twelfth century. Still older are the
| mosaics of st. Apollinare, in Ravenna,
dating back to the sixth century. The
art exhibited in them is more primi-
| tive; on the other hand, they do not
possess the original freshness of the
Venetian mosaics, because of the alto
| gether too evident efforts of the re-
storer Christ is seen praying on a
rock, surrounded by eleven apostles.
Rocky cliffs to the right and left are
meant to indicate Mount Olivet.
One of the sacred spots of Chris
tan art is the famous convent of ST.
| Mark in the city of Florence A hum
| BILE Dominican monk it was, Fra An
| gelico da Fiesole, who created this
ctuary of art. The fresco repre-
senting Christ in the garden of olives
| Fifteenth century,, is composite
scene: on the upper right Christ in
| prayer; in the center Peter, James
and John sleeping; in the left corner
Mary and Martha in contemplation.
The deeply religious mysticism of the
scene is one of the most exquisite
flowers of medieval art.
A distinctive feature of the great
scene is the addition of the instru-
ments of the Passion since the end of
the fifteenth century. A German
woodcut of the period shows them
distributed around the rocks. A. Tin
| toretto, a Corregio and a Guido REM
all of the sixteenth century, wrestle
with the great technical problem of
the distribution of darkness and light
another distinctive departure from the
customary treatment of the subject
In German art Albrecht Duerer
sixteenth century, displays the great
est versatility in the treatment of the
theme. In his so-called Small Pas
sion" the emphasis is laid on the
scriptural: Nevertheless not as I will
but as Thou wilt. The "Great Pas
sion,' on the other hand, emphasizes
the prayer: If it is possible, let this
chalice pass from me. Possibly the
most striking is the scene from the
so-called copper-etching Passion, an
unsurpassed and thoroughly original
motif. Christ is seen stretching out
his arms in prayer, writhing in agony
at the sight of the cross an angel is
holding up before him. A wealth OF
detail is crammed into the relatively
small frame of the engraving Mount
Olivet with it's scraggly vegetation
the apostles sleeping in the fore
ground in pastures of absolute aban.
don, the dark background broken by
the luminous apparition of the angel
carrying the cross, the river Cedron
winding around. the base of the noun.
tain, and in the distance the gates and
towers OF Jerusalem. The casual be-
holder is slow to realize the consum.
mate mastery and intense concentra.
ton OF the composition, used as he is
to the familiar scene.
Passing over into Spain we encoun.
ter Murillos masterpiece, a symphony
IN light against the glorious back.
ground of his native country. The
technical problem is solved in a mas.
teriy manner, though perhaps at the
expense of the religious import of the
subject. Best known of5Murillo's work
IS the immaculate Conception The
greatest OF Spanish religious painters
and one of the greatest Madonna
painters of all times. Murillo died in
1852. A monumental sculptured grour
by the Spaniard Zarcillo ,17O7-178I
emphasizes the sorrow of Christ, and
the consolation of the divine Victim
Lby an angel.
/ How do modern masters depict the
gripping theme? The German Ed
ward Won Gebhardt follows the an
cient models, but not all the way
Christ has arisen from prayer, and is
seen working his way through the un
derbrush to the place where the apos