The Betrayal of Christ

The Morata Master was named by Chandler Rathfon Post (op. cit., pp. 388-417) after a retable in the Eremita de la Vera Cruz at Morata de Jiloca, just north of Daroca, which shows scenes from the life of Christ. He was a follower of Jaume Huguet (c. 1415-before 1492) and his forms are clearly indebted to the Catalan artist, although they are often more elongated and emaciated. The embossed, ringed halos in the present picture are characteristic of 15th-century Aragonese painting and feature repeatedly in works by the Morata Master. We are grateful to Santiago Alcolea of the Amatller Institute of Hispanic Art in Barcelona for confirming the attribution to the Morata Master on the basis of a photograph. Dr. Alcolea further suggests that an attribution to Martín de Soria (active Aragon c. 1450-1487) is equally plausible.