The Agony in the Garden

Until the 1920s, the signature of Jean Pénicaud I was visible on the white rock in the foreground, where the initials IP, linked together by a small cord, were written in gold. Today, there remain only a few isolated dots and faint indications of the loops of the cord. This plaque, which belongs to a group of eight enamels that depict episodes in Christ’s life and are signed by Jean Pénicaud I, is very similar to one depicting the Way to Calvary (now in the British Museum); both may have once been part of a polyptych illustrating the Passion of Christ. For the composition, Pénicaud relied primarily on The Agony in the Garden, engraved around 1480 by Martin Schongauer.

Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.

Ernest Odiot, Paris. His sale, April 26–27, 1889, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Lot 52, repr. Calvet-Rognat and de Lariboisière sale, April 10–11, 1891, Paris, Lot 27. L. Cotreau, Paris. His sale, April 28–29, 1910, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Lot 49. J. Pierpont Morgan, London and New York. Duveen. Frick, 1916.

Source: Enamels, Rugs and Silver in The Frick Collection. Volume VIII. New York: The Frick Collection, 1977.