Artwork Page for The Last Supper

Details / Information for The Last Supper

The Last Supper

1523

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
Culture
Germany
Medium
woodcut
Measurements
Sheet: 21.6 x 30 cm (8 1/2 x 11 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 1966.9
Catalogue raisonné
Meder 184
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

One-point perspective is a technique that artists use to render three dimensional space using a series of invisible lines converging on a vanishing point. Here, as in most last supper scenes, the vanishing point is located on the figure of Christ.

Description

Albrecht Dürer made this version of the Last Supper after returning from Venice. He adopted the typically Italian horizontal format, long table, and disciples seated on the far side. The table has been cleared, except for a single chalice, which, along with the empty platter, basket of bread, and wine decanter in the foreground, refers to the Christ’s body and blood in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Significantly, Judas—the disciple who would betray Christ—is not present. Some art historians interpret the scene as the moment Christ exhorts his disciples to love one another (John 13:34), a passage emphasized by the Protestant leader Martin Luther, whose Ninety-Five Theses was championed by those sympathetic to Catholic reform.
A horizontally oriented woodcut in black ink depicts thirteen men at a long table. The central figure has a radiating halo, and another man rests his head on the table nearby. Groups of men on either side gesture and look toward the center. Fine horizontal hatching shades the interior. In the foreground, a large dish sits on the floor, while a basket of bread, metal pitcher, and monogrammed plaque rest to the right.

The Last Supper

1523

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
Germany

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