The Taking of Christ

In the late 18th century, this painting was thought to have disappeared, and its whereabouts remained unknown for about 200 years. In 1990, Caravaggio’s lost masterpiece was discovered in the residence of the Society of Jesus in Dublin. There are seven figures in the painting: from left to right, they are St John, Jesus, Judas, two soldiers, a man (a self-portrait of Caravaggio), and another soldier. Typically for Caravaggio's works, the figures are arrayed before a very dark background in which the setting is disguised. Two puzzling details of the painting are the fact that the heads of Jesus and St. John seem to merge together in the upper left corner, and the prominent presence, in the very center of the canvas, of the arresting officer's highly polished, metal-clad arm. The central group, composed of Jesus, Judas and the soldier with an outstretched hand, is based upon a 1511 woodcut by Albrecht Dürer.