Christ at the mount of olives

Christ on the Mount of Olives shows several scenes running parallel. After the Paschal Supper, Jesus went with his disciples to the Mount of Olives. In the Garden of Gethsemane he asked his disciples to keep watch while he prayed, but they kept falling asleep.
The overlapping and extreme foreshortening – particularly in the composition of the sleeping disciples Peter, James and John – together with the colours of their clothing, demonstrates Jan’s Mannerist style. Despite their unnatural positions, the disciples have fallen asleep. They notice neither the mortal fear of their kneeling master, praying with expansive gestures, nor his vision of angels surrounded by cloud and bearing a cross, which heralds Christ’s martyrdom. The chalice, which recalls the Last Supper, stands for God’s judgement and his love. The sword in Peter’s hand anticipates the sequel: in desperation he will smite off the ear of the soldier Malchus.
In keeping with the strong Romance influence in his work, Hemessen presents the figures of Jesus and his disciples large-scale in the foreground. In the background, Judas leads the henchmen down the hill on the right; he has the purse with the thirty pieces of silver hanging round his neck, as a sign of his betrayal.

DUCKE Astrid: Hemessen Jan van, Christ at the mount of Olives, in: DUCKE Astrid, HABERSATTER Thomas, OEHRING Erika: Masterworks. Residenzgalerie Salzburg. Salzburg 2015, p. 80