A sixteenth-century hand-coloured woodcut by Doen Pietersz. depicting the arrest of Christ, rendered in a direct and graphic Northern Renaissance style.

This hand-coloured woodcut by the Dutch printer and publisher Doen Pietersz. depicts the arrest of Christ, a subject frequently explored in Northern Renaissance religious texts. The composition is tightly packed, focusing on the physical confrontation between the central figure and the soldiers. The artist employs a direct, graphic style typical of early sixteenth-century book illustration, where bold outlines define the forms before the application of colour.

The scene is set within a shallow, compressed space, typical of woodblock prints intended for inclusion in printed volumes. The figures are dressed in anachronistic attire, blending contemporary sixteenth-century fashion with elements of armour. The use of colour is functional rather than naturalistic, applied to distinguish the various figures and their garments within the dense arrangement. The presence of the monogram at the bottom right confirms the attribution to Pietersz., who operated a workshop in Amsterdam during the early decades of the sixteenth century.

Technically, the work demonstrates the limitations and strengths of the woodcut medium. The lines are firm and purposeful, designed to withstand the pressure of the printing press while providing clear visual narratives for the reader. The cross-hatching and parallel lines used for shading are kept to a minimum, allowing the hand-applied pigments to provide the necessary tonal variation. This print offers a glimpse into the production of devotional literature in the Netherlands, where such illustrations served to guide the reader through the biblical narrative. The physical condition of the print, showing signs of its original placement within a bound book, adds to its historical character, preserving the context in which it was originally intended to be viewed.