Art and Faith: Christ in the Gethsemane Garden by Arkhip Kuindzhi
"Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, 'Sit here, while I go over there and pray.' . . . he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.' And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.'” -Matthew 26:36-39 This 1901 painting by Russian Impressionist Arkhip Kuindzhi portrays Jesus entering the depths of the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before his crucifixion. Impressionist painters like Kuindzhi were less interested in capturing the photo-realistic details of the world and more concerned with capturing the feeling of a moment or a place using light and color. In this painting, the artist bathes the solitary figure of Jesus in a patch of pale moonlight surrounded by a dark archway, emphasizi...