The Kiss of Judas(Betrayal of Christ) by Giotto

By Christine Griffin

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Christine Griffin

Kiss of Judas by Giotto

The most pertinent painter of all time is Giotto di Bondone. He was an Italian painter and architect from Florence. Giotto is know for contributing many works to the Italian Renaissance. Giotto was typically recognized as one of the smartest artist when it came to religious subjects. Giotto was the type of painter who lived at a time where everyone had a different view on the human mind. Giotto's emergence started the beginning of the Renaissance. Giotto was discovered by the father of art named Cimabue. In a sense Giotto was Cimabue's under study. He watched Giotto from a tender age and watched how serious art was to him and how smoothly new ideas came across his mind. This painter of 14th century Italian painting was known for his set of 39 frescoes that had a biblical context to it. Giotto during his time was going beyond the Byzantine empire style of work. He created artwork that had humanistic ideas and seemed very hands on and life like. He even went along and created three dimensional artwork because that was how his mind worked. He was not the typical artist. He knew how to do above and beyond most artists and looked at things very precisely. By doing so Giotto was far ahead of his time. The most religious piece of artwork by this painter is the Kiss of Judas. Every time this piece of art is mentioned another name is typically heard called, The Betrayal of Christ. When this piece is mentioned another artist is mentioned named Duccio because he made two more works about the same Giotto piece out of mosaic and tempera. Often these three different paintings are compared. Although they are all very different they all are the same when it comes to how they all include movement and identifies Judas and Jesus when they kiss.

One of the most memorable piece of artwork is The Kiss of Judas by Giotto. In this piece of artwork there are many people standing around, there are trees in the background and it seems as if there is either a fight or an agreement going on in the center of it. This painting was made in the year 1305. Something that stands out about Giotto's piece is that it is directly related to religion. This painting represents the moment when Judas identifies Jesus to the Romans with a kiss. In this specific panel Jesus and facing Judas is in a leaning position. Judas is is curved which shows that he is trying to embrace Jesus. They are seen gazing into each others eyes and face to face like they are going to kiss. If one looks at the panel carefully Jesus' and Judas' lips do not touch. It is very apparent that the figures in this artists panel are in different points of view. None of the people in this panel are facing this audience. This shows that the audience is not connected with the panel and we are very distant to it. The main focus has always been that the two main figures are dramatically confronting each other which most times distract the viewers. Above Jesus' head there are two stakes which shows the intense rage that the mob has against him. In this panel none of the stakes are directly vertical but they are all angled. This shows the physical violence of Jesus' death and signals how the mob felt towards him. In this specific piece of work the artist places three important figures in different stages. There is a man on the right side of the panel that is pointing and the audience sees him a three quarter view. This draws the viewers a little closer to the work but then again still absent from the scene. Judas is turned further to the right and the hooded man in the gray is seen only in a rear view. The artist of this painting made this piece of art so that the audience could different angles of figures which makes the viewer see a sense of movement throughout the piece.

The most apparent thing in Giotto's artwork is the colors that he chooses to use. Giotto's piece was made quickly with watercolor on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling so that it could become one. Giotto was one of the first artists to use this method. A simple word for his type of work is called fresco. The color of the background was pastel blue and navy blue but looks as if the sky was finished being made. Everyone around Jesus and Judas are in neutral and earth tone colors. Judas and Jesus are draped in a gold cloak which makes them stand out. Some of the specific colors are brown, bronze, red, orange, burgundy, and beige. These colors influence deeply the way the viewer sees this work. Since the people around Jesus and Judas are a mob they are in neutral and earthy colors so that they blend in. Typically a mob is a group of people out to get someone. So if they blend in the whole mob looks like one group and Jesus will not know that they are supposedly coming for him. The stakes are golden for a very specific reason. A stake is a strong metal post with a point at one end that in this painting was used to stand out to show how powerful the mob was. Jesus and Judas are in a yellowish and gold type of color. Historically these colors represent greed and and richness. In this painting the yellow gold color under Judas robe shows how greedy he is and how important he is in this painting. There are also a gold halos only over Jesus' and Judas' head which shows the viewer to focus on the two more closely. Although there is a lot of action going on in this painting if not looked at carefully many figures and action going on can be easily misinterpreted.

In Giotto's piece of art the figures are very clear to see and his interpretation of the scene is very dramatic. Giotto's work is a large piece that a typical viewer can not miss. It is 78.7 x 72.8 inches. This large landscape makes it easy for the viewer to understand. The viewer just has to view it with an open mind but they can be close or far but it is big enough to observe it. With this large size it attracts many viewers to it and gets people to think about what is in front of them. Large paintings also help to figure out what exactly is happening in this scene. If this painting was smaller the viewer would not be able to depict who was in the center and why they were in the center. Also when a work of art is smaller the viewer tends to think small minded instead of thinking of a wide range of ideas. Since Giotto's piece is made of fresco it effects the way the piece looks to this day. With fresco paintings everything had to be drawn efficiently and carefully. There had to be little to none errors because fixing an error was almost impossible. This was so because this type of medium required that the work stayed wet so that it would be able to paint on. Once a certain area is dry there can not be any corrections. Some of the sky in Giotto's piece is missing or not completed because that was a difficult task to complete. An article stated, “Since blending was difficult, the final effects were produced by hatching”(Reed, 169). This helps the viewer understand why the sky looks a little incomplete. When doing cross hatching this type of drawing looks like lines that criss cross each others which causes spaces in between the lines.

This piece of work is located in the Arena Chapel. The Arena Chapel is located in Padua, Italy which is very near to Venice. The Arena Chapel got its name because of how close it was to a former gallery. This specific chapel had six windows and was in the shape of a rectangle. Giotto did much of his work in the chapel. In an article speaking of the chapel the author said, “The design of the Chapel lent itself to Giotto’s artwork because of it large flat uninterrupted surfaces”(Ermel, 112). This shows that Giotto himself painting many of his artwork inside the chapel on the walls and the ceiling using his same fresco ideas. With this idea he had to paint really quickly because the plaster would quickly dry. This piece of are was intended to only be seen in the Arena Chapel for Scrovegni Family. Giotto's work was intended for all audiences in the chapel and in Naples. Giotto was asked by the King to paint the kingdom and he quickly agreed. Giotto's Betrayal of Christ fresco has a certain affect on me. When I look at this work of art I feel that the painter was trying to hide something from the audience. His use of overlapping figures and having them seem constricted definitely caught my attention. When I look at this piece I see a lot of emotion which attracts me the fresco even more. When looking at this fresco I feel that Judas is trying to cover Jesus with his gown and Jesus does not know what exactly is going to happen to him. When I first saw this work I thought that Judas was being either respectful or polite to Jesus but biblical refernces say otherwise.

The intention of this painting was to teach the audience about human beings. Giotto wanted his audience to know how exactly human ideas and concepts work and show this through his own creation. In his work of art he was showing that people are not always who they say they are. Judas was one of Jesus' disciples and seemed to be very jealous of him. Jesus was given something that Judas felt should have went to the poor. Since then he wanted to get Jesus and set him up. Judas knew the mob was trying to kill Jesus and didn't say a word. The painter shows us that even those closest to you could betray and to no be fooled. He also wants us to know there are not many people in the world that you can trust. In the NIV version of the bible it states, “They were delighted to hear this and promised to give money. So he watched an opportunity to hand him over”(Mark 14:11). This explains why in this painting Jesus is almost completed covered. Judas was very greedy and got money in exchange for betraying Jesus. Giotto was very successful in painting what he meant. The viewer in the end can make their own interpretation but with a careful eye one can see that Jesus had great intentions but Judas just simply had to against him. Although this is art his painting relates back to how humans view life in society today. Just like in this painting people can easily be looekd at as atrue friend and the other friend can be let down and see their true colors. Giotto wanted his audience to know him for his had work and beautiful art work but he also wanted one to see a different view on life and who we share our lives with. Giotto was not just an artist but a mind changer. He had always had his viewers thinking and looking at the world in small pieces not just as a whole.

As one can see this painting had many figures in it but the most attention is payed to Christ and Judas. It is as if the painting has no background and they are the only ones in the painting. There is a serious confrontation between these two. Their relationship is serious because Stubblebine says, “The dramatic confrontation between Christ and Judas gains emphasis because nothing in the scene is allowed to interfere with it”(Stubblebine, 86). The viewer is supposed to be looking at them specifically to understand the entire scene. Compared to other Byzantine forms, Giotto's figures are one that are never forgotten. He builds up movement and drama in his art. Giotto excelled at teaching his viewers about space, dimensions and human actions. Giotto had always been the creator of frescoes and al of them had been on the lives of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. Throughout all of this Giotto was known for being who he was, a creator, a painter and an architect. Giotto will always be remembered and the quote, “Man is the measure of all things”.

Work Cited

Reed, Kay. "F R E S C Osize=20, "Times"" Notebook. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.

. Eimerl, Sarel. The World of Giotto. New York: Time, 1967. Print.

"Mark." The Holy Bible: New International Version, Containing the Old Testament and the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Bible, 1984. Print.

Stubblebine, James H. Giotto: The Arena Chapel Frescoes. New York: Norton, 1969. Print.