Rockefeller's gift of "Christ in Gethsemane" to his Riverside Church

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Tahlib

"Christ in Gethsemane" (1890) by Heinrich Hofmann. Oil on Canvas, The Riverside Church, New York City

NEW YORK---It was a nice service today at Riverside Church in New York City, but the highlight was the tour of the art collection. The painting however that I'd longed to see wasn't on today's tour. It is "Christ in Gethsemane" by Heinrich Hofmann, but I hope to see it before my time here is done.  In this canvas, we see unfolding the opening scene of Jesus Christ’s atonement from Matthew 26:36-44, Mark 14:32-41, and Luke 22:39-46. Christ’s solitude is intense, as you can tell from the spot lighting and the wringing of his hands. I ache whenever I see this image because my own isolation is also so intense in this city of eight million people. It reminds me of home, and how a print of this hung in my grandmother's living room.  In 1932, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. purchased Christ in Gethsemane and donated it to the Riverside Church in New York City.