Judas Repentant, Returning the Pieces of Silver

Last updated
Judas Repentant, Returning the Pieces of Silver
Judas Returning the Thirty Silver Pieces - Rembrandt.jpg
Judas Repentant
Artist Rembrandt
Year1629 (1629)
Typepainting
Mediumoil on wood
SubjectA repentant Judas returns the thirty pieces of silver to the Temple.
Dimensions79 cm× 102 cm(31 in× 40 in)
LocationPrivate Collection
Ownerprivate collection

Judas Returning the Thirty Pieces of Silver is a painting by Rembrandt,. [1] It depicts the story of Matthew 27:3: "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders".

Made in 1629 while he was working in Leiden, the painting is one of Rembrandt's earliest works. About 1630, Constantijn Huygens wrote an analysis of the figure of Judas in it, arguing that Rembrandt had surpassed the painters from antiquity, as well as the great sixteenth-century Italian artists when it came to the representation of emotions expressed by figures that act in a history painting. [2] [3]

Because of the notoriety of Judas' betrayal of Jesus, this event in the gospels was rarely, if ever, portrayed before and this is the only instance of Rembrandt painting this scene.[ citation needed ] Here Judas is portrayed as a wretched and remorseful figure. Bloodstains on Judas' head show he has torn his hair out. [4] Huygens used the words "maddened" and "devoid of hope" of Judas, and Rembrandt illustrates this with Judas' wringing hands and pained grimace. The high priest has dramatically turned away from Judas and the other elders seem at a loss what to do. The one reading a codex seems to be counting up the pieces of silver (there are 30). Nobody meets the eye of anyone else: a technique used by Edward Hopper centuries later. [ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judas Iscariot</span> Disciple and betrayer of Christ

Judas Iscariot was—according to Christianity's four canonical gospels—a first-century Jewish man who became a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for 30 pieces of silver, by kissing him on the cheek and addressing him as "master" to reveal his identity in the darkness to the crowd who had come to arrest him. In modern times, his name is often used synonymously with betrayal or treason.

<i>The Night Watch</i> 1642 painting by Rembrandt

Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, also known as The Shooting Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch, but commonly referred to as The Night Watch, is a 1642 painting by Rembrandt van Rijn. It is in the collection of the Amsterdam Museum but is prominently displayed in the Rijksmuseum as the best-known painting in its collection. The Night Watch is one of the most famous Dutch Golden Age paintings. Rembrandt's large painting is famed for transforming a group portrait of a civic guard company into a compelling drama energized by light and shadow (tenebrism). The title is a misnomer; the painting does not depict a nocturnal scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirck van Baburen</span> Dutch painter (c.1595–1624)

Dirck Jaspersz. van Baburen was a Dutch painter and one of the Utrecht Caravaggisti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerrit Dou</span> Dutch painter (1613–1675)

Gerrit Dou, also known as GerardDouw or Dow, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders. He specialised in genre scenes and is noted for his trompe-l'œil "niche" paintings and candlelit night-scenes with strong chiaroscuro. He was a student of Rembrandt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willem van Mieris</span> Dutch painter

Willem van Mieris was an 18th-century painter from the Dutch Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Asselijn</span> Dutch painter (c. 1610 – c. 1652)

Jan Asselijn was a Dutch Golden Age painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutch Golden Age painting</span> 17th-century Dutch painting

Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rembrandt</span> Dutch painter and printmaker (1606–1669)

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art. It is estimated Rembrandt produced a total of about three hundred paintings, three hundred etchings, and two thousand drawings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew 26</span> Chapter of the New Testament

Matthew 26 is the 26th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. This chapter covers the beginning of the Passion of Jesus narrative, which continues to Matthew 28; it contains the narratives of the Jewish leaders' plot to kill Jesus, Judas Iscariot's agreement to betray Jesus to Caiphas, the Last Supper with the Twelve Apostles and institution of the Eucharist, the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and the subsequent vindication of Jesus' predictions, of betrayal by one of the twelve Apostles, and that he will, in the Denial of Peter, be disowned by his closest follower, Saint Peter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew 27:6</span> Verse of the Bible

Matthew 27:6 is the sixth verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse continues the final story of Judas Iscariot. In the previous verse Judas had cast into the temple the thirty pieces of silver he'd been paid for betraying Jesus. In this verse the priests discuss what to do with them.

<i>The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis</i> Painting by Rembrandt

The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis is an oil painting by the Dutch painter Rembrandt, c. 1661–62, which was originally the largest he ever painted, at about five by five metres in the shape of a lunette. The painting was commissioned by the Amsterdam city council for the Town Hall. After the work had been in place briefly, it was returned to Rembrandt, who may have never been paid. Rembrandt drastically cut down the painting to a quarter of the original size to be sold. It is the last secular history painting he finished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornelis Ketel</span> Dutch painter

Cornelis or Cornelius Ketel was a Dutch Mannerist painter, active in Elizabethan London from 1573 to 1581, and in Amsterdam till his death. Ketel, known essentially as a portrait-painter, was also a poet and orator, and from 1595 a sculptor as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thirty pieces of silver</span> Price received for a betrayal

Thirty pieces of silver was the price for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, according to an account in the Gospel of Matthew 26:15 in the New Testament. Before the Last Supper, Judas is said to have gone to the chief priests and agreed to hand over Jesus in exchange for 30 silver coins and to have attempted to return the money afterwards, filled with remorse.

<i>Self-Portrait with Two Circles</i> Painting by Rembrandt, 1665, Kenwood House

Self-Portrait with Two Circles is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch artist Rembrandt, painted c. 1665–1669, one of over 40 painted self-portraits by Rembrandt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bargain of Judas</span> Biblical episode

The Bargain of Judas is a biblical episode related to the life of Jesus which is recorded in all three Synoptic Gospels, Matthew 26:14–16, Mark 14:10–11 and Luke 22:1–6. It relates how Judas Iscariot made a bargain with the Jewish chief priests to betray Jesus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Last Supper in Christian art</span>

The Last Supper of Jesus and the Twelve Apostles has been a popular subject in Christian art, often as part of a cycle showing the Life of Christ. Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art date back to early Christianity and can be seen in the Catacombs of Rome.

<i>The Return of the Prodigal Son</i> (Rembrandt) Painting by Rembrandt

The Return of the Prodigal Son is an oil painting by Rembrandt, part of the collection of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. It is among the Dutch master's final works, likely completed within two years of his death in 1669 . Depicting the moment of the prodigal son's return to his father in the Biblical parable, it is a renowned work described by art historian Kenneth Clark as "a picture which those who have seen the original in St. Petersburg may be forgiven for claiming as the greatest picture ever painted".

<i>A Polish Nobleman</i> 1637 painting by Rembrandt

A Polish Nobleman is a 1637 painting by Rembrandt depicting a man in a costume of Polish szlachta (nobility). The identity of the subject of the painting is unclear, and has given rise to several different interpretations. The view that the figure's dress is clearly Polish is not universally held and it may have been a self-portrait.

<i>Susanna and the Elders</i> (Rembrandt) Painting by Rembrandt

Susanna and the Elders is a painting by the Dutch artist Rembrandt from the Baroque period. It is an oil painting on a Peltogyne panel completed in the year 1647. It depicts the story of Susanna, a Deuterocanonical text from the book of Daniel in the Bible. The painting is currently housed at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.

<i>Portrait of an African Man</i> Painting by Jan Mostaert

The Portrait of an African Man also known as Portrait of a Moor is a painting by the Dutch Renaissance painter Jan Mostaert. Mostaert probably made the painting between c. 1525 and 1530, or slightly earlier. The exact subject of the painting has long been unclear, although numerous ideas have been put forward, including that the depicted figure is a soldier, a nobleman or Saint Maurice. The portrait is significant in that it may portray the earliest surviving portrait of a specific black man in European painting, though Saint Maurice, and Balthazar of the Three Kings or Biblical Magi, had long been usually portrayed as Africans.

References

  1. van de Wetering, Ernst (2000). Rembrandt: The Painter at Work. Amsterdam University Press. p. 268, note 8. ISBN   0-520-22668-2.
  2. Perlove, Shelley; Silver, Larry. Rembrandt's Faith: Church and Temple in the Dutch Golden Age. University Park, PA: Penn State Press. p. 234. ISBN   978-0-271-04838-3.
  3. "Huygens ontdekt Rembrandt". CODART. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  4. Cotter, Holland (2016-06-02). "'Rembrandt's First Masterpiece,' a Portrait of a Biblical Betrayal". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-12-28.

Literature