The Betrayal of Christ (van Dyck, Bristol) The Betrayal of Christ (van Dyck, Bristol) The Betrayal of Christ is a c.1618-20 painting by Anthony van Dyck. He also produced two other versions of the same subject at around the same time, now in Madrid and Minneapolis. It was acquired by Paul Methuen. He bequeathed it to his cousin and godson Paul Methuen in 1757, who displayed it at Corsham Court. It remained in the family until 1984, when it was accepted by the UK government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, which continues to hang it at Corsham Court. It
Anthony van Dyck majority of his most important patrons in the nobility, such as Lord Wharton and the Earls of Bedford, Northumberland and Pembroke, took the Parliamentarian side in the English Civil War that broke out soon after his death. The King in Council by letters patent granted van Dyck "denizenship" in 1638, and he married Mary, the daughter of Patrick Ruthven, who, although the title was forfeited, styled himself Lord Ruthven. She was a Lady-in-waiting to the Queen, in 1639-40; this may have been instigated by the King in an attempt to keep him in England. He had spent most of 1634