Lot 01

Unknown author THE KISS OF JUDAS

Judas' kiss is an act by which Judas of Iscariot was to betray Jesus to the militants and which led to his immediate arrest. Judas' kiss is a metaphor for a seemingly friendly and devoted gesture, but which does a lot of damage. Perhaps the negative connotation of the motif has contributed to the fact that the image has been changed beyond recognition. The presented painting was hidden under the repainting with the motif of the Madonna for several centuries, and its presence in the lower layer was only revealed by the method of radiography. After a very careful restoration intervention, we have the first opportunity to see a painting that has not been seen by the human eye for several centuries. The morphology of the painting testifies to the dating to the 15th century with a marked Central European influence. This is a very rare example of the technological process of painting with an underdrawing of a Gothic panel painting. Consulted with Zdeněk Preclík.