Messiah (Handel)
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Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel. The text was compiled from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter by Charles Jennens. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.
Title page of Handel's autograph score
Statue erected in Handel's honour, in Vauxhall Gardens, London; now in the Victoria and Albert Museum
A portrait of Charles Jennens by Thomas Hudson from around 1740; now in the Handel House Museum
The Great Music Hall in Fishamble Street, Dublin, where Messiah was first performed
Passion of Jesus
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The Passion is the short final period before the death of Jesus, described in the four canonical gospels. It is commemorated in Christianity every year during Holy Week.
Christ Crowned with Thorns by Matthias Stom (c. 1633–1639) shows Jesus in his Passion as the "Lord of Patience" with the crown of thorns and scepter reed, being mocked by Roman soldiers.
![16th century sculpture of suffering Christ [cs], Cheb, Czechia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Bolestn%C3%BD_Kristus_%28po%C4%8D._16._stol.%29%2C_Cheb.jpg/500px-Bolestn%C3%BD_Kristus_%28po%C4%8D._16._stol.%29%2C_Cheb.jpg)
16th century sculpture of suffering Christ [cs], Cheb, Czechia
Icon of the Passion, detail showing (left) the Flagellation and (right) Ascent to Golgotha (fresco by Theophanes the Cretan, Stavronikita Monastery, Mount Athos).
Crucifixion by Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1526)