Sculpture of Jesus Christ on the Mount of Olives, Strasbourg Cathedral, calvary located in Bas-Rhin, in France

Le Mont des Oliviers is a carved sandstone group about nine metres long, 3.8 metres wide and five metres high, set against the apse wall of the Saint-Laurent chapel in Strasbourg Cathedral. It shows Christ praying before an angel, three sleeping apostles, and Judas arriving with a crowd; a dark wooden balustrade crosses the foreground.

Commissioned in 1498 by Niklaus Roeder for the cemetery of the Saint-Thomas church, the group was carved in grey sandstone, attributed by Théodore Rieger to the sculptor Veit Wagner. After the Reformation it was moved several times, then transferred into Strasbourg Cathedral in 1667 to protect and display it. Roeder died in 1510; his tomb slab in Saint-Thomas shows him as a skeleton, a medieval transi.

The group merges two successive episodes: Christ praying before the angel while Judas arrives behind him with a crowd, a narrative device inherited from Byzantine art. The sleeping apostles occupy the foreground, and the walled garden with its pointed palisade and rocky ground frames the scene.

The group stands against the apse wall of the Saint-Laurent chapel inside Notre-Dame Cathedral, so it is seen during the cathedral's opening hours rather than from the street. Look for the dark wooden balustrade with openwork arches crossing the base; it separates visitors from the carved figures. The work is about nine metres long and five metres high, so step back to take in all three planes at once.

The angel's chalice has lost its upper part and the crossbar of the crucifix has disappeared; one apostle is missing the fingertips of his right hand. The base is cracked, graffiti mark the block under the angel, and black crusts eat into some statues. The wall behind shows at least three repairs in differently coloured stone.