Name/Title
The Third HourEntry/Object ID
2026.1.8Description
Hubert FitzGerald learned the basics of drawing, composition, and perspective here at Saint Vincent, in eight years of classes that the artist’s mother arranged with a “Father Maolchy” beginning when ‘Hube’ was only 10. FitzGerald went on to study art at Carnegie Tech, where his classmates included Philip Pearlstein and Andy Warhol, and his teacher, the legendary Samuel Rosenberg, ingrained a lifelong commitment to “Design, design, design.”
Within a year of graduating, FitzGerald was recruited for the advertising department of Armstrong Cork Company, where he helped to build sets for the advertisements in the television drama anthology series, “Armstrong Circle Theatre.” During FitzGerald’s regular trips to New York to help build sets, his friend Andy Warhol inspired him to continue to paint ambitious works, such as The Third Hour.
Here, FitzGerald shows Christ in the final moment as death overtakes him. We, the viewers, seem to float in space as we look directly onto the dying face dripping with blood, the eyes squeezed closed in pain. From this mystical vantage point, Christ’s neck and torso recede in space; his arms and legs are beyond our field of vision.
The oval shapes of Christ’s head and eyes recall Picasso’s proto-Cubist works inspired by African art, which FitzGerald would have known from such works as Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907, MoMA, New York City). The flattened features and interest in surface pattern (visible in Christ’s hair and the wood grain of the cross) also recall the example of Byzantine icon paintings.
The Third Hour was well-received by critics when it was exhibited in Washington and Toledo; it was the subject of heated debate when it was reproduced in black-and-white in the artist’s hometown newspaper in Lancaster, PA. The artist treasured the work, and displayed The Third Hour in his family’s living room throughout his life.
The artist’s eldest daughter has offered to donate the painting to Saint Vincent, the place that inspired her father’s life in art. If accepted, the Verostko Center would feature the painting in a special installation alongside other works of modern art depicting Christian subjects. (The artist’s children and other family members are holding the date of November 17, 2026, for a special reception at Saint Vincent to celebrate the gift.)
The Third Hour would likely be exhibited often at the Verostko Center, where it would be of interest to undergraduates in many disciplines, seminary students, and the public.Artwork Details
Medium
Egg Tempera on boardCataloged By
Emma KosmiskiMade/Created
Artist
Hubert J. FitzgeraldDate made
1953Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
Stamp, Inscription, SignatureNotes
stamped “FONDERIA ART / F.LL.I. BONVICINI / SOMMACAMPAGNA” on the pedestal. Inscribed “3/19 PE” at base of the back of the figure’s robe. (P.E. stands for "Prueba de Estado" or "test/state proof," indicating a trial or proof casting outside the main numbered edition.)
Signature: signed and dated “FitzGerald 53” at lower rightDimensions
Dimension Description
36 x 24 in (91.4 x 60.9 cm)Create Date
September 22, 2026Update Date
September 22, 2026