British Network Television

‘Father Brown’: S03.E10. “The Judgement of Man”

The local art gallery has the priceless painting ‘The Judgement of Man’

Stefan Lochner’s Last Judgement (c. 1435). Image Credit: Cologne’s Wallraf-Richartz Museum.

This episode opens with a scene set during the Second World War. The Nazis are seen entering a household and stealing a priceless religious oil painting on canvas. Jewish families, during the early days of the Second World War, were forced to hide their artwork from the Nazis.

Screen Capture: A scene from “Father Brown”

The painting, referenced in this Father Brown episode as The Judgement of Man, is supposedly Stefan Lochner’s Last Judgement. Painted c. 1435, with works such as this possessing more than one title Lochner’s oil painting is also known as The Day of the Lord. This painting, in real life, can be found hanging at Cologne’s Wallraf-Richartz Museum. There are numerous figures missing from the painting depicted in the Father Brown episode.

The episode references the horrors of the war. Later, as the war progressed, Jewish families were forced to hide themselves. History shows a significant number of Jewish families perished in concentration camps. This is a piece of history, unimaginably…