The painting “The Chalice of Christ” is dedicated to the famous evangelical event – the prayer of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before being taken into custody. Evangelicals describe the events in different ways and, accordingly, their artists interpret them in different ways. Jesus was usually portrayed either prostrate on earth, according to Matthew and Mark, or praying on his knees, according to Luke.
The artist moved the scene of prayer to the upper left corner, while the horizon closed with two rocky cliffs and buildings under them, so a distinct diagonal appeared in the compositional movement.
Roerich boldly returned to the night lighting and to the real environment in which the gospel event took place. There are no winged Amurs, no brilliant towers and luxurious clothes. In comparison with the magnificent splendor of the ita-lyan canvases everything is simple, even ascetic. At the same time, it cannot be said that the artist has reduced what is happening to the ordinary. No, on the contrary, he elevated him to the rank of a cosmically significant phenomenon.
A huge space with twinkling stars burst open in the picture, and this blue sky fire, in which Christ is also clothed, fascinates with its powerful radiance. There, in the higher realms, the face of Christ is also directed. His hands glowing in prayer are directed toward a constellation, which in its outline resembles a bowl on a high base.
The motif of the Bowl is present here in everything, primarily in the compositional canvas. The trunks of the trees, balancing the running of the lines to the east, describe the right half of the bowl. It exponentially expands its boundaries and seems to embrace the entire Universe. In its center is Christ, who sacrificed himself for the atonement of the sins of mankind. The picture not only revives the feat of the Savior, but also calls for communion from the Bowl of universal love.
The midnight glittering stars sky among the rocks, illuminated by a soft light, depicts a kneeling figure of Christ with his hands up. His face, in reverent prayer, is turned upwards toward the stars. There you can see a group of stars, its shape resembles a bowl. This is the constellation Orion. The chalice of Christ’s deed unites with the cup of the constellation that sent the sacred stone to the world. Thus, the story of this world is particularly well captured in the story of this world, which drank the bitter cup of humiliation and painful execution in the name of saving the planet.
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