The Arrest of Pangeran Diponegoro (also The Arrest of Prince Diponegoro; Indonesian: Penangkapan Pangeran Diponegoro; Dutch: Gevangenname van Prins Diponegoro) is the name of an 1857 painting by Raden Saleh, depicting the capture of Prince Diponegoro by Lieutenant General Hendrik Merkus de Kock on 28 March 1830.
Prince Diponegoro stands, defiant, in front of Lieutenant General Hendrik Merkus de Kock in front of the colonial officer's mansion. He wears a green turban, white tabard over pantaloons, and a jacket; around his waist is a golden belt, to which prayer beads are attached, and over his shoulder is a shawl. He appears to be struggling to control his anger – as would be expected from Javanese gentry – while the Europeans' eyes are static and avoid the eyes of others.
De Kock, the captor, stands to Diponegoro's left, at the same level as the guerrilla. Further to the left are various Dutch officers, identified by the historian and Diponegoro biographer Peter Carey as Colonel Louis du Perr, Lieutenant-Colonel W.A. Roest, and Major-Adjutant Francois Victor Henri Antoine Ridder de Stuer. To the prince's right stands a Javanese man identified by Carey as Diponegoro's son, Diponegoro the Younger, followed by Resident of Kedu Franciscus Gerardus Valck, Major Johan Jacob Perié, and Captain Johan Jacob Roeps. At Diponegoro's feet, a woman – possibly his wife Raden Ayu Rětnaningsih – reaches out to grab him.
The view from the northeast shows a still morning scene, with no wind blowing, and centered around Diponegoro. Saleh gives the painting depth of field, showing the soldiers closest to the front in crisp detail, while blurring the details of those in the back rows. The heads of the Dutchmen depicted appear to be slightly too large for their bodies, while those of the Javanese soldiers are of proper proportions. The painter, Raden Saleh, inserted himself into the painting twice: as a soldier bowing to the captured leader, and as a soldier facing the viewer.
This painting measures 112 by 178 centimetres (44 in × 70 in).
Diponegoro (1785–1855), a descendant of the Sultans of Yogyakarta, was passed over several times for ascension to the throne. In 1825, after declaring himself Ratu Adil and his enemies infidels for their lax practice of Islam, he began a war against the reigning sultan and the Dutch colonial government. In the five-year struggle that followed, which was waged over much of central Java, over 200,000 Javanese and 15,000 Dutch soldiers were killed. On 28 March 1830, with most other guerrilla leaders captured, Diponegoro was invited to come to Lieutenant General De Kock's home in Magelang to negotiate an end of hostilities and guaranteed safety of passage. There, after three hours, Diponegoro was arrested. He was exiled to Makassar, Sulawesi, where he remained until his death.
Saleh's depiction is not the only painted version of Diponegoro's capture. An earlier version, The Submission of Prince Dipo Negoro to General De Kock, was completed c. 1835 by Nicolaas Pieneman on commission by De Kock or his family. Rather than an angry and defiant man, Pieneman presented a submissive and beaten Diponegoro, standing lower than his captor and thus symbolically having less power. Overall, Pieneman's painting gives the impression that, although De Kock is acting sternly in exiling Diponegoro, it is in the best interest of the Javanese. The author Susie Protschky describes both Pieneman and Saleh's works as "two of the best known history paintings from the Indies".
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