Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Thursday, 2 April 2026

The medieval view of Judas


The always useful website Medievalists.net has an interesting article about how Judas and his fate, as well as an involved biography to shoe just how unsavoury he was, were presented by medieval writers.

Illustrated with illuminations from medieval books it can be accessed at Judas in the Middle Ages: The Making of an Anti-Hero 


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Gethsemene by Giotto




Detail of the Kiss of Judas by Giotto, 
1304-6, in the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua

Image: Formae Divinae Wordpress

I think the fresco of the Kiss of Judas is the finest, or most powerful, of these early fourteenth century masterpieces in the Scrovegni Chapel, and one which commands attention and invites reflection and meditation.  

The way in which the lumpen figure of Judas envelops Jesus is striking, signifying the loss of personal autonomy of the Redeemer in the Passion - He is now in His enemies’ power. yet the serenity of expression points to the Divine self-surrender central to the Triduum. 

The website from where I found this image has a meditation on the painting and this central feature which can be read at “The Kiss of Judas” by Giotto

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