Sean Curley

Oil on wrap around canvas, 36″ x 36″

 During my youth I would look forward to the regular showings of Jesus of Nazareth around the Easter period thanks, mainly, to the remarkable portrayal of Jesus by Robert Powell. The central character in this painting is clearly inspired by this portrayal, although the hands are obviously mine! The figure of Christ is clearly central to the composition, but not necessarily the most important part of the story of the painting for me. Over several decades, since I first came across the character, I have wanted to include the figure of Jealousy in Bronzino’s ” Venus Disarming Cupid ” into a painting of my own, and I have finally achieved this here with the Judas figure on the right of the composition. Although the character of Judas seems fitting in this painting, and obviously inspired the title, for me this character can be read in other ways, possibly as a representation of mankind’s relationship with religion at times.

I have included the third character of the Virgin Mary to counter the fury of the Judas figure with one of quiet, serene piety. My Mary figure is older than would have been the case around the time of the crucifixion thanks to my memories of visiting the house of Mary just outside Ephesus in Turkey. Whether it really was where Mary spent her final years or not, this house had a wonderful peace about it which I wanted to express in this painting. The blood red moon is both a symbol of Christ’s virtue and, with the blood colour, the crucifixion. Whilst painting this picture, there was a blood moon and a lunar eclipse, ( might have been the same thing! ), which, coupled with the moon’s symbolism, I had to include in the painting. The star is the star of Bethlehem which represents the beginning of Christ’s life compared to the moon’s ending of it through the crucifixion.