Christ Taken before Caiaphas (c. 1641–42): Art, History and Details

Christ Taken before Caiaphas (c. 1641–42) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The first drawing purchased by the museum as a Rembrandt is now considered by experts to have been made by a follower of the Dutch artist. The scene depicts Christ being led to his first interrogation after his capture in Gethsemane (John 18:12–14), an unusual subject that may be paraphrasing the traditional portrayal of Christ carrying the cross. Here, the exhausted figure of Christ, contrasted with the brutal features and cruel gestures of the soldiers, produces an image that resonates with emotion. However, stylistic details, particularly the use of wash that creates a vague space and the lack of clarity and directness in Christ's face, suggest that this drawing was executed by a student or follower working in Rembrandt's style.

Object facts

• Title: Christ Taken before Caiaphas
• Date: c. 1641–42
• Creator attribution: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash, with white gouache
• Dimensions: Sheet: 18.2 x 23.4 cm (7 3/16 x 9 3/16 in.); Secondary Support: 18.2 x 23.4 cm (7 3/16 x 9 3/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - Dutch
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 1960.187

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review| 1960.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 47, no. 10 (December 1960): 223–254.
• Rembrandt, and Louise S. Richards. “Christ Taken before Caiaphas.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 48, no. 1 (January 1961): 2–4.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.