Dramatic historical episode hidden behind a long-lost masterpiece

DURING the week RTÉ televised a fascinating documentary on of the discovery in Dublin of the priceless Caravaggio painting, The Betrayal of Christ. Its whereabouts had been a mystery for more than 200 years before it was found hanging in the dining room of the Jesuits’ house on Leeson Street, where it had been for some 60 years.

The Betrayal of Christ was painted by Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio (1571-1610).

The painting, which is now on permanent loan to the National Gallery of Ireland, went missing in the late 18th century. A Scotsman, William Hamilton Nisbet, bought it in Italy in 1802, thinking it was a copy by the Dutch artist Gerard von Honthorst.