Arrest of Christ

Albrecht Altdorfer painted this Arrest of Christ around 1518, depicting the moment of Judas's betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane with the dramatic nocturnal atmosphere that was becoming his signature. Working in Regensburg as the city's leading painter and an important civic official, Altdorfer developed a uniquely atmospheric approach to landscape and nocturnal scenes that influenced the entire Danube School. The torchlit arrest scene allowed him to explore the dramatic contrast between supernatural darkness and the warm glow of lanterns and torches—an effect that anticipates Caravaggio's tenebrism by nearly a century. Altdorfer's small panels were prized by sophisticated collectors and likely produced for the private devotional market.

The panel shows the precise draftsmanship and rich color characteristic of German Renaissance painting, with the detailed rendering and clear compositional structure typical of the artist's workshop production.