For larger commissions, sculptors presented their clients with a clay model, known as a bozzetto, alongside a drawing. This one shows the central group of the famous Mount of Olives in Ried parish church. Thomas Schwanthaler’s model is based on the Gospel of Luke, which is the only Gospel that refers to the angel. Thomas Schwanthaler’s interpretation of the subject is unusual. Christ is generally depicted as kneeling in prayer, but here he is shown as having sunk helplessly to the ground. The human-seeming angel is supporting his arm. The events on the Mount of Olives are interpreted here as a type of Liebestod, or Love Death. 

The Mount of Olives group by Thomas Schwanthaler is an outstanding example of Southern German Baroque sculpture. It can be seen in the Chapel of Affliction in Ried parish church.