An Arrest,
Painted by Christian Ludwig Bokelmann (1844-1894),
Painted in 1881,
Oil on canvas
© Christie’s Images
An Arrest,
Painted by Christian Ludwig Bokelmann (1844-1894),
Painted in 1881,
Oil on canvas
© Christie’s Images
They would have arrested him, but his time had not yet come
John 7:1-2,10,25-30
Jesus stayed in Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea, because the Jews were out to kill him.
As the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to himself. Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ? Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.’
Then, as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out:
‘Yes, you know me
and you know where I came from.
Yet I have not come of myself:
no, there is one who sent me
and I really come from him,
and you do not know him,
but I know him because I have come from him
and it was he who sent me.’
They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.
Reflection on the painting
We associate the word ‘arrest’ with criminal activity. Arresting is seizing someone by legal authority and taking them into custody. Usually this is followed by interrogation about a situation that the person has been suspected of being involved with. As a procedure in the criminal justice system, an arrest requires good cause. We read in today's Gospel that whilst some of the Jews wanted to arrest Jesus to get him out of the way, no reasonable, clearly defined cause had yet been established for an arrest. It is an alarming reading, as John the Evangelist paves the way here for what was about to happen soon: ‘his time had not yet come’… A small word ‘yet’, but one that carries so much weight in this last sentence of our Gospel reading.
Our canvas by German genre painter Christian Ludwig Bokelmann depicts a policeman on a flight of stairs making an arrest. We don’t see the accused. We see only the public aspect of the arrest and how appalled the bystanders are. Looks of shock, disappointment, surprise can all be seen on the facial expressions of the friends and family who are looking on. The scene is set on an Autumn day, the bare trees just having shed their last leaves. In the central foreground fresh milk churns and freshly cut cauliflowers just stand there, alone, neglected, probably put there only moments ago by the accused after a day's work. The painting shows the public humiliation an arrest brings. That is exactly what some of the Jewish authorities were after with Jesus: to publicly humiliate Christ. They would soon get their way….
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Yes, so much to look at and contemplate in the picture. The two little blonde girls seem to stand out from the rest. They show no anxiety about the outcome.Is this because a child usually lives in the moment and hasn’t the experience to anticipate outcomes. There is a light around them.
Except for the man making the arrest, why are the six or seven men all standing in the background? (I assume that is a man holding the bag, center behind the tree.) I see a figure in the window below the chimney. Is this one connected house? I cannot stop looking at this painting. Thank you.
I agree-what a snapshot of this community! So much to see, really interesting painting.
The detail! At least 30 figures, everything is described beautifully. It must have taken so long. I wouldn’t have the patience|
Anthony,I believe patience is what you need when you are in danger of becoming impatient. I think many artists, and no doubt this one, feel as I do that once you are painting, you enter into “the flow” and time has no meaning. Seeing the details of those people come right comes before anything else you could have been doing.
Jesus drawing us back to the Father again. ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’
The little girl with the white smock stands out to me. She looks very alone and unhappy. Everyone else is in a group. I wonder if she was with the one being arrested and was left outside as the other ran in the house to avoid the police. I can barely see a woman in the doorway pleading with someone else inside.
The woman nearby has her hand out to her, as if drawing her close. I agree our eye is drawn to the little girl, who to me seems just lost in her own thoughts and is impervious to what is going on. I was often that little girl, constantly day-dreaming!
The falling leaves. The painting is very sad and I have a feeling of perhaps injustice being perpetrated although one can’t know. The doorway is brighter than the exteriors of other buildings. It looks like a wife or mother is in the house, or is she the one being arrested? The crowd is perturbed and know what is going on; whether the arrestee is in the right or wrong.
There’s quite a story in this picture.
Had we lived 2000 years ago, it would be nice to think I’d recognise Jesus and follow him. But in this modern day, Jesus asks us to recognise him in all people and it’s there I frequently fail. Today’s picture returns us to the solemnity of Good Friday. The anguish and concern of the crowd depicted, reflects our personal feelings of the Passion. It’s like being there.