The Betrayal of Christ
Caravaggio 1573 – 1610
oil on canvas (133 × 169 cm) — c. 1603
Luke 22:48 - But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?
Jesus' face expresses both resignation and pain. He knows what is about to happen to him. Note how he holds his hands. Judas Iscariot greets him with a kiss, so the soldiers know whom to capture.
To better see the face, it is illuminated by a lantern. The man holding the light is Caravaggio himself.
Breaking a rule of his craft, Caravaggio started this painting on a dark ground. The typical composition with the soldier stretching his arm was derived from an Albrecht Dürer woodcut.
The painting was commissioned by Ciriaco Mattei, a brother of Caravaggio's patron, Cardinal Mattei. Around 1800 the Mattei family sold it, erroneously attributing it to the Dutch master Gerard van Honthorst. It was rediscovered as a Caravaggio in 1990 while hanging in a Jesuit home in Dublin, Ireland.
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