Albrecht Dürer 1471 – 1528

The Betrayal of Christ

woodcarving (13 × 10 cm) — 1509 Museum British Museum, London

Albrecht Dürer biography

This work is linked to Luke 22:48

With a kiss Judas shows the soldiers which one of the men in the Garden of Gethsemane is his master. The Romans then arrest Jesus. In the foreground Peter is fighting with one of the soldiers, whose name is thought to be Malchus.

This woodcarving is number 11 in the Small Passion series, which was published as a book in 1511.

Almost a century later Caravaggio would copy a part of the composition in his Betrayal: the group with the two protagonists and the soldier who stretches his arm to grab Jesus.

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