Christ on the Mount of Olives

German 15th Century

1490

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Renaissance Renaissance Religious

About this work

This image shows a scene with three figures kneeling in prayer on a grassy hill. Behind them, a small village with a church and a few buildings sits on a rise. The colors are simple—greens, browns, and muted blues—and the style is flat, like a printed picture. Notice how the artist used sharp lines and blocks of color to create the scene. This was a common way to make images before photography. This is made using the woodcut technique.