Mis-identified as being related to the Briar Rose Series Coming at the height of his maturity, the commission for the American Church in Rome enabled Burne-Jones to explore his mystical interpretation of the scriptures, as in this design in which Christ praying on the mount of Olives is depicted against a wall with an open door, through which is seen the profile of Jerusalem. The sleeping disciples half buried amongst rock,s symbolizing the Earth, are separated from the ghostly evanation of the kneeling, praying figure of Christ. The two sections are separated significantly by briars, in Burne-Jones's world they represent a barrier and explain why the cataloguers at the British Museum were confused in their mis-identification of the subject.