The Agony in the Garden

This version of the Agony in the Garden by Ludovico Carracci, also dated around 1590 and now in the Museo del Prado, may represent either a replica, a variant composition, or a work from his atelier produced alongside the National Gallery version. The Prado's rich holdings of Italian Baroque painting reflect the long history of Habsburg collecting from Spanish viceroyalties in Italy and direct royal acquisition. That two versions of this subject by Ludovico exist in major European collections suggests the composition was particularly admired by contemporaries and that replicas or variants were produced to meet demand. The Prado version allows stylistic comparison with the London canvas and with the broader context of Italian Baroque painting in that collection.

Assessing this version against the National Gallery canvas would require direct comparison, but both works from this period in Ludovico's career share the same compositional logic and technical approach — nocturnal setting, angel descending with cup, sleeping disciples, controlled chiaroscuro. Differences between the two may reveal either the hand of studio assistants or deliberate variations introduced by Ludovico himself in the variant version.