Mocking of Christ; Kiss of Judas; Flagellation 1885 - 1915

Emile Samson created this enamel triptych depicting the Passion of Christ, evoking late medieval sensibilities. The betrayal by Judas with a kiss, the mocking of Christ with his flagellation, these scenes are heavy with symbolic weight. Notice Judas’s kiss. A gesture meant for affection turned into treachery. I see echoes of this perverse embrace throughout art history. Consider the image of Cronus devouring his children, a kiss of death in an attempt to usurp destiny, or the seductive kiss of Salome, leading to John the Baptist’s beheading. These moments of betrayal tap into primal fears of human nature and the fragility of trust. The composition, filled with compressed figures, amplifies this psychological tension. The way these scenes are etched into our collective consciousness reveal that the echo of these images resonates across time.