Accredited to Matthias Stom, Christ before Caiaphas, is of impressive side (60 x 80) oil painting that depicts an important New Testament passage. The scene shows the meeting between the high priest Caiaphas and Christ during a trial in which Christ is found guilty of blasphemy.[i] Stom uses this biblical reference to investigate the transition from unity in the form of betrayal. In concurrence with the painting’s time period, it exhibits Chiaroscuro similar to Michelangelo Merisi Da Carvaggio and other painters of the baroque movement that continued to influence Stom circa the early 1630s.[ii] Although little is known about Stom, records reveal that most of the Dutch painter’s work was commissioned in Rome and Naples by the Catholic Church.[iii] Additionally, Stom’s painting is unique to his own style in terms of the characteristic red-brown hue and composition.[iv] Authorship of Christ before Caiaphas has at times been questioned due to excess fluidity in brushstroke and thinner surface paint, uncharacteristic of Stom’s other works.[v] In supposing Stom’s authorship of the painting, his manipulation of chiaroscuro or the use of facial and body expression is used to comment on the threshold between unity and disunity; the verge of betrayal.

As was aforementioned, Chiaroscuro is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, attributing a sense of volume and shape to the whole of a painting.[vi] More specifically, Stom achieves commentary on the subject of unity and disunity with the juxtaposition of light and shadow using candlelight Chiaroscuro. The candle, for example, though seemingly equal distance from both Christ and Caiaphas, reflects and illuminates their faces with different hues, extremities and shadows. The illumination of Christ is dramatically more than that of Caiaphas. In addition to attributing a sense of purity and goodness to Christ, Stom also suggests Christ to be a source of figurative illumination through his physical illumination in the painting. The shadows that result from the illumination not only stand as a foil to further emphasize that which is illuminated but also impute a sense of deceit and insincerity to Caiaphas. A depiction of the exact threshold of deceit is visible in the splitting of light and shadow on one of the apostles in the background behind Christ. Stom’s choice to paint this event during nighttime instead of the daytime (as is the biblical setting) highlights the importance of the betrayal he wished to convey in Christ before Caiaphas.[vii] It is through such ambiguities that Stom is able to achieve a sense of unity and disunity in the context of supposed fraternity and actual betrayal.

Stom’s manipulation of facial and bodily expression of Christ, Caiaphas and the two apostles works to convey interpersonal dynamics of the betrayal taking place. Caiaphas exhibits a very aggressive and self-righteous pose in the drastic arch of his back leaning forward and in his comfortable grip of the throne-like chair. Caiaphas’s gesture pointing upwards seemingly calls upon diving judgement, but Stom’s extensive use of shadow on the inner grip seems to ambiguously question the validity or perhaps sincerity thereof. Christ, on the other hand, appears to be kneeling with clasped hands and a bowed head in resignation. Although this sense of submission or resignation attributed to Christ is unique to the recollection of this biblical trial, Christ’s gaze is focused less on the verdict of Caiaphas than on the luminescence of the candlelight. This suggests the source of light as symbolic of Christ’s absolute subordination to God and perhaps strength through this submission; mirroring virtues of Christian submission for his most likely Christian viewers.

Moreover, Stom’s choice facial features help to highlight the dynamics between these figures. The face of Caiaphas is much harsher, with heavy eyebrows and a much larger nose; overall very severe features. In contrast, Christ is depicted with much more docile features: a smaller nose, softer cheekbones and a smoother complexion. In juxtaposing Christ with Caiaphas in this way, Stom comments on the manner of betrayal whilst giving insight to the transition from unity into disunity.

Christ Before Caiaphas exhibits Stom’s extensive juxtaposition of light and bodily manipulations to comment on disunity and unity in human nature. Specifically, this painting investigates the transition from unity to disunity in the form of betrayal atop strong biblical undertones. The threshold between unity and disunity is shown in this painting as a manifestation of human relations and dynamics. This is especially effective in the form of a painting because of the reliance it evokes on the analysing of body language; a show of unity and disunity on its own as well.

HJ


[i] Fischbacher, Franziska, and Matthias Stomer. Matthias Stomer: Die Sizilianischen Nachtstu%u0308cke. Frankfurt Am Main: P. Lang, 1993. Print. 32-7.

[ii] Hunt, Patrick. Caravaggio. London: Haus Pub., 2004. Print. 15-6.

[iii] Stomer, Matthias, and Richard Verdi. Matthias Stom: Isaac Blessing Jacob : the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, the University of Birmingham, 29 October 1999-16 January 2000. Birmingham, Eng.: Trustees of the Barber Institute of Fine Art, University of Birmingham, 1999. Print. 68-9

[iv] Ibid. Stomer, Matthias, and Richard Verdi. Matthias Stom. 68-9

[v] ibid. Stomer, Matthias, and Richard Verdi. Matthias Stom. 68-9

[vi] Hunt, Patrick. Caravaggio. London: Haus Pub., 2004. Print. 15-6.

[vii] Whitfield, Clovis, and Jane Martineau. Painting in Naples 1606-1705 from Caravaggio to Giordano : [exhibition] National Gallery of Art Washington. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1982. Print. 17-8.