The Passion: Christ Before the High Priest

Lucas van Leyden · 1521
The Cleveland Museum of Art

The fourth plate of Lucas van Leyden’s Passion of 1521, only about 11.5 cm high. The high priest’s robe is cut in fine stripes, and a soldier’s arm and fist stand out in the middle.

The high priest sits at the left in a fur cap and speaks. Letters on his seat spell “ANNE” — Annas. Jesus stands before him, quiet. Between them an officer raises his fist to strike.

From the text

The high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching (John 18:19)

An officer slapped Him: “Is this how You answer the high priest?” (John 18:22)

“if I spoke correctly, why did you strike Me?” (John 18:23)

The artist’s own

Annas’s name written on his seat

A striped robe and fur cap for the high priest

Soldiers with spiked maces behind

Details

Annas

The high priest sits and speaks.

The blow

An officer raises his fist.

Jesus

He stands before the high priest.

The name

Letters on the seat read “ANNE”.

Lucas van Leyden, Netherlandish, 1494–about 1533. The Cleveland Museum of Art (Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1923.55.4) · Engraving · Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access: Collection API record "share_license_status": "CC0" (Creative Commons Zero, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).

The verses

John 18:19–23Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching. “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered. “I always taught in the synagogues and at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why are you asking Me? Ask those who heard My message. Surely they know what I said.” When Jesus had said this, one of the officers standing nearby slapped Him in the face and said, “Is this how You answer the high priest?” Jesus replied, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what was wrong. But if I spoke correctly, why did you strike Me?”