The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

The Betrayal of Christ

late 1650s

Jacob Jordaens

(Flemish, 1593–1678)
Flanders
oil on canvas
Framed: 249 x 271.5 x 8 cm (98 1/16 x 106 7/8 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 225.5 x 246.3 cm (88 3/4 x 96 15/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1970.32
Location: Not on view

Description

After the deaths of fellow Flemish painters Peter Paul Rubens in 1640 and Anthony van Dyck in 1641, Jordaens became the leading painter in his native Antwerp. In the seventeenth century, Antwerp underwent a Catholic Restoration, leading to numerous commissions for religious paintings. Jordaens's large work depicts the moment, set in the Garden of Gethsemane, in which Judas betrays Christ with a kiss, leading to the arrest of Jesus by Roman soldiers. The tense moment of betrayal is compounded by the violent reaction of apostle Peter in the foreground, who attacks Malchus, the servant of the High Priest who led the arrest. The lighting heightens the drama of the Passion of Christ, as the lanterns of the soldiers powerfully illuminate the night scene. Night scenes, also called nocturnes, are trademarks of the Northern painting tradition since the fifteenth century and demonstrate its continuing impact into the 1600s.
  • Juergen Ovens
    , upon his death, held in trust by the estate, 1691;
    Estate of Juergen Ovens, 1691;
    Possibly Count Otto Thott (GaunØ Castle, Denmark), (died 1785), by inheritance to Holger Reedtz, grandson of Otto Thott's maternal uncle, who took the name Reedtz-Thott in honor of his benefactor, Count Otto Thott, who had no male heirs;
    Holger Reedtz-Thott (died 1797), by inheritance to Baron Otto Reedtz-Thott;
    Otto Reedtz-Thott (doed 1862), by inheritance to Baron Kjeld Thor Tage Otto Reedtz-Thott;
    Baron Kjeld Thor Tage Otto Reedtz-Thott (died 1923), by inheritance to Baron Otto Reedtz-Thott;
    Baron Otto Reedtz-Thott (died 1927), by inheritance to Baron Axel Reedtz-Thott;
    Baron Axel Reedtz-Thott (GaunØ Castle, Denmark) (sold, Sotheby's, London, July 10, 1968, no. 78); Agnew & Sons, London;
    Pinakos, Inc., New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1970.
  • Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1970." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 58, no. 2 (1971): 22-71. Reproduced: p.22 25152361
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 155 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 19-21; Reproduced: p. 19
    L'Arrestation du Christ de Jordaens: anatomie d'un chef-d'œuvre. Valenciennes: Musée des beaux-arts de Valenciennes, 1997. Mentioned: p. 60; Reproduced: p. 61
    Meier, Esther. "Ruben's Neid und Judas' Verrat - Jacob Jordaens 'Vita in der Teutschen Academie," In Reframing Jordaens: Pictor doctus, Techniken, Werkstattpraxis/Reframing Jordaens: Pictor doctus, techniques, workshop practice, 16-27. . Justus Lange, Birgit Ulrike Münch, and Anne Harmssen. Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag GmbH & Co. KG 2018. Reproduced; p. 20, abb. 2
  • The Night. Haus der Kunst, Munich (organizer) (November 1, 1998-February 17, 1999).
    The Night, Haus der Kunst, Munich, November 1, 1998- February 7, 1999.
    Jacob Jordaens: L'Arrestation du Christ. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes (organizer) (February 22-May 4, 1997).
    Year in Review: 1970. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-March 7, 1971).
  • {{cite web|title=The Betrayal of Christ|url=false|author=Jacob Jordaens|year=late 1650s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1970.32