GOTTFRIED SCHALCKEN (MADE 1643-1706 THE HAGUE)

Dated by Beherman to circa 1665-70 (op. cit., p. 332), this evocative, shadowy depiction of Judas' betrayal of Christ is an early example of Schalcken's mastery of the candlelit scene, executed with the refined handling of paint of the Leiden fijnschilders. Having first been apprenticed to Samuel van Hoogstraten, the young artist spent the years between circa 1662 and 1665 studying with Gerard Dou in Leiden. The latter's painting of around 1660-1665, The Night School (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-87) appears to have been the direct inspiration for Schalcken's Betrayal of Judas. The motif of the pierced lantern, placed on the floor at lower right is taken directly from Dou's painting, but beyond this Schalcken has manipulated his master's composition, heightening the drama not only through the change of subject but through subtle shifts in figural placement. By moving the central group further to the front of the visual plane the artist implicates the viewer in the whispered conspiracy, drawing them directly into the scene. Further evidence of his artistic finesse is the inclusion of the gilt chandelier, absent from Dou's composition, which reflects back the candle flame burning below creating a mise en abyme of flickering light. These bright points stand in contrast to the softer glow of the candlelight on the heavy swathe of the curtain to the left; it is for this deft handling of multiple light sources and their play across differing textures that Schalcken was so highly prized. The Betrayal of Judas is, to our current knowledge, the earliest example of a multi-figural, candlelit scene of this complexity executed by the artist. He would go on to re-use various elements of the composition in later paintings; for example the gilt chandelier reappears in A family concert, of the late 1660s (London, Royal Collection, inv. no. RCIN 405337). A workshop version of the present painting is in the Prado, Madrid (inv. no. P003652).