L'Arrestation du Christ (The Arrest of Christ)
19th century
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Mount: 5 11/16 × 7 7/8 in. (14.5 × 20 cm) Sheet: 2 7/16 × 3 9/16 in. (6.2 × 9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The J. B. Neumann Collection, Gift of Dr. Franz H. Hirschland, 1950
Accession Number
50.575.54
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intimate etching *L'Arrestation du (The Arrest of Christ, 19th-century French artistolphe Bresdin captures pivotal biblical moment from the Garden of Gethane, where Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss amid soldiers and disciples. Created on a remarkably small sheet (just 2 7/16 × 3 9/16 inches), this print draws viewers into a tense, human-centered drama, as suggested by its "Human Figures" tag. Bresdin's work reflects the Romantic era's fascination with emotional intensity and spiritual narratives, rendered in exquisite detail suited to private contemplation. Etching, Bresdin's chosen med...
About the Artist
Rodolphe Bresdin · 1822–1885
Rodolphe Bresdin (1822–1885) was a visionary French draughtsman, engraver, and lithographer whose fantastical imagery captured the empathy of rural poverty and the wild exuberance of the imagination. Born on August 12, 1822, in Montrelais near Le Fresne-sur-Loire in Brittany, he grew up in the Breton countryside amid its bardic folklore traditions before a family dispute left him homeless in Paris...