Getty Museum

Christ before Annas

Creator

Flemish Illuminator · 1483–1561

Artist

One of the most celebrated painters of Flanders in the 1500s, Simon Bening was hailed by Portuguese art critic Francisco da Hollanda as the greatest master of illumination in all of Europe. In addition to producing books for powerful aristocrats such as Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, Bening worked for a group of international royal patrons including Emperor Charles V and Don Fernando, the Infan

More on Getty ULAN

Date: about 1525–1530
Medium: Tempera colors, gold paint, and gold leaf
Culture: Flemish
Department: Manuscripts
Institution: Getty Museum

Here Simon Bening continued with the stunning effects of flames and light that so fascinated him in the previous nocturnal scenes of Christ's betrayal and arrest. The torches brought inside burn with a new, more focused brightness, while the glowing coals and popping embers of the fire behind Annas make his portly figure more prominent. The viewer can almost feel heat coming from the hearth. More than just a skillful display on the artist's part, this detailed observation and representation of the natural world was a means of bringing the events of Christ's life into the viewer's sphere by presenting them as if they were occurring right before the viewer's eyes.

View at Getty Museum ↗

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.

Get printable QR codes

Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.

Open this page

See at Getty Museum

Related across collections

Semantically similar works from Getty Museum and other institutions.