Christ before Annas

Christ before Annas, painted around 1628, depicts the first interrogation of Jesus after his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he was brought before the father-in-law of the high priest Caiaphas. This early work shows Stom engaging with the Passion narrative cycle that Caravaggist painters treated with particular frequency, the nighttime arrest and trial scenes being ideally suited to dramatic chiaroscuro. Stom's mastery of candlelight effects was among the most technically accomplished of all Caravaggist painters, surpassing many of his contemporaries in the subtlety of his graduated shadows and the warmth of his artificial illumination.

The confrontation between Christ and the priestly authority is dramatized through Stom's characteristic lighting, with the faces of the principal figures sharply illuminated while secondary figures recede into shadow.