Christ before Caiphas, from The Passion of Christ

Christ is led by soldiers into a cramped urban courtyard at night to face the religious authorities. Caiaphas stands on an elevated stone platform, dramatically tearing his chest-cloth in a display of outrage, while a torchbearer illuminates the scene from the left. In the background, a distant gothic cathedral spire rises beneath a night sky containing a thin crescent moon and stylized stars.

This print belongs to Goltzius’s 'Master Passion,' a series designed to showcase his technical virtuosity by emulating the engraving style of Albrecht Dürer. As a leading figure of the Haarlem Mannerists, Goltzius moved in the same intellectual circles as Karel van Mander and served the court of Rudolf II, where the boundaries between religious devotion, natural philosophy, and artistic artifice were frequently blurred.