The Betrayal of Christ

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.