Judas Attempts to Return the Thirty Pieces of Silver

6th century
Mosaic
Church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna

This is one of the 13 mosaics of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ along the right wall of the nave. It illustrates Matthew 27:3-10. After the Sanhedrin condemns Jesus, Judas repents and tries to give back the thirty pieces of silver they had paid him, but they refuse to accept it.

The man in the long gray hair is Caiaphas, who is also pictured in the scenes of Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin and the Way of the Cross. As in those images, he wears a tunic, striped boots, and a mantle with an elaborate pectoral clasp. It is not clear whether the pinkish tiles above the boots represent legs or trousers.

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Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.