The Chief Priests Take Counsel Together (Les princes des prêtres se consultent)

Following Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the chief priests and scribes meet to discuss their response to the challenge of his increasing popularity: they resolve to find a way to destroy him.

Once more, Tissot focuses on the costumes of the priests, with their elaborately woven and draped textiles (fringed with fur, in the case of the white-bearded priest at center), and the lavish building materials of the Temple complex, with its marble columns topped with carved capitals. The luxuriousness of their attire—and of the Temple itself—stands in marked contrast to Jesus and his followers, who celebrate the meek and the powerless.