Judas painting survived Reformation by being turned around

THE GUARDIAN
By Mark Brown

The Kiss of Judas. Infrared photography revealed that the painting must have been turned around in the 16th century. (Please scroll down for full image.) Photograph: HKI Institute/The Fitzwilliam Museum, Image Library

UNITED KINGDOM---A rare medieval panel showing Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Christ survived the Reformation due to a remarkable instance of 16th-century recycling, researchers in Cambridge have discovered. The brightly painted wooden panel of The Kiss of Judas escaped the systematic destruction of thousands of church paintings because someone turned it around and used the back for another purpose – most likely to display the Ten Commandments. Estimates say up to 97% of English religious art was destroyed during and after the Reformation. [link]