The Arrest of Christ

Judas has thrown his arms around Christ and pressed his cheek to Christ's face. That kiss was the agreed sign telling the guards which man to seize, and the painter crowds everything else into the same instant. Peter, with a halo, swings a sword above his head. Below, a man has sunk to his knees on the stony ground, and Jesus has already laid a hand on the side of his head. John's Gospel names him Malchus, a servant of the high priest, and says Peter cut off his right ear. Only Luke adds that the ear was healed, so the blow and its cure appear side by side. The guards wear mail, plate gauntlets and helmets of the painter's own time, around 1450. John also says they came with lanterns and torches, and here torches still burn against the gold ground.