Our group recreated The Agony in the Garden by Raphael. This painting was made as a part of a predella (the bottom section or platform of an altarpiece) sometime between 1483 and 1520. Apparently, the angel in the upper right-hand corner was added to the painting as an afterthought. The figure is excluded from the original sketches, which show the chalice resting directly on the rock. Raphael and our group have something in common here. Although we certainly took the angel into consideration when planning our photograph, it’s quite obvious that it came into the picture later.
The Agony in the Garden, Raphael 1483-1520. Oil on wood.
We didn’t necessarily think this would be the easiest painting to recreate, and we were right. Still, we were only anticipating some minor difficulties with the angel. Other than that, we expected things to go fairly smoothly. This was not the case. Despite the fact that Beloit is filled with hills and trees, finding a location that resembled the landscape in the painting was extremely difficult. We ended up taking photographs in multiple locations and editing them together afterwards (luckily one of our group members has experience in that area).
We managed to masterfully recreate the attire seen in the painting with the use of blankets, towels, and the clothes in our closets. Unfortunately, all of the figures in the painting are barefoot. I’m sure sitting outside sans shoes was much more pleasant for the original subjects than it was for four Wisconsinites in the middle of October, but we suffered through it for our love of Renaissance painting.
One thing we found we could not compensate for was the beardedness of several figures. Tracking down a fake beard is harder than you might expect and, despite our best efforts, none of us were able to grow the real thing. Instead we decided to embrace our bald chins and recreate the painting with female figures. Here is the result:
Renaissance Reconsidered 