Last Supper

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The Last Suppers

The Last Supper is about spirituality (The Eucharist) and not actual food. But still, we are drawn to this important subject because its theme is people sitting together at a meal ( surely featuring bread and wine,) and how artists over the centuries have depicted the scene. Read more here about the food symbolism.

Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper has become one of the most widely appreciated masterpieces in the world. It began to acquire its unique reputation immediately after it was finished in 1498 and its prestige has never diminished. Despite the many changes in tastes, artistic styles, and rapid physical deterioration of the painting itself, the painting's status as an extraordinary creation has never been questioned nor doubted. (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~lbianco/project/home.html)

Da Vinci's "Last Supper" was painted on the refectory wall of Milan's monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

"Last Suppers" were common subjects for artists through the ages. Practically every monastery dining hall had one. Here are some examples.

Last Supper, Balkan icon

Last Supper by Duccio

Last Supper by Master of the Housebook

Last Supper by Ghirlandaio

The perfection of Da Vinci's work lies not only in the artistic merits of the painting, but also in Leonardo's expressive mastery. Leonardo's Last Supper is an ideal pictorial representation of the most important event in the Christian doctrine of salvation - the institution of the Eucharist. His representation of this part of the Christian story has achieved a unanimous accceptance and authority. No other painting of a Christian subject dominates our imagination with the same power of Da Vinci's Last Supper. There are countless copies and reproductions of this particular painting in homes, places of worship, and museums throughout the world. However, when thoughts turn to the Last Supper, we seem to see only Leonardo's representation before us.
(http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~lbianco/project/home.html)

Understandably, many others have paid homage to or satirized DaVinci's masterpiece by taking his design and his seating plan, and giving them their own interpretation. Here are just a few of the many variations.

Sacrament of The Last Supper by Salvador Dali, 1955