The Last Supper
Basic Info
Matthew 26:17–30, Mark 15:12–26, Luke 22:7–38, John 13:1–17, 1 Corinthians 11:23–36
Matthew, Mark, and Luke offer us one fairly consistent version of the Last Supper that occurs at Passover and focuses on the shared bread, the shared cup, and Judas’ betrayal. John recounts a supper that occurs before Passover and focuses instead on Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet. Most artists have chosen to depict the former, but occasionally we see images of Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet and once in a while the stories are combined.
On television today, we see archeologists’ and historians’ trying to reconstruct the “upper room” and a Passover meal as it would have looked in 1st-century Palestine, but most of the artists depicting the Last Supper have lacked access to that kind of information. Artists have depicted the room and the festival meal either according to artistic tradition or their own creativity.
Unlike most other biblical stories, Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me,” after proclaiming the bread as his body and the wine as the new covenant in his blood. The event has always been repeated in the Church. The Eucharistic celebration (Mass, Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion) as practiced in the artist’s time often influences the artist’s depiction. Even today we see the influence of the contemporary practices of Mel Gibson's worship community in The Passion of the Christ (2004) in the flashback scenes to the Last Supper.
Historical Notes
In the early Church, sarcophagi and the catacombs frequently contain supper scenes, but rarely is there enough specificity to indicate that the Last Supper is being portrayed as opposed any other meals referenced in the Scriptures. Yet the image of the bread and wine are common in early Christian images. An icon of the Last Supper is usually placed over the gates in the iconostasis in Orthodox churches. During the Renaissance, the Last Supper was an especially popular theme in art.
What to Look For
- In addition to the general attributes one looks for in any artwork of Bible stories, look for:
- Which moment is emphasized―the memorial blessing of the bread and wine, the betrayal, or the washing of the feet
- Whether Judas (the betrayer) is set apart or identified
- Whether special attention is given to the depiction of John, the beloved disciple, who is often rendered as especially young and thus not yet capable of growing a beard and who is sometimes resting his head or sleeping on Jesus’ chest
- The shape of the table and how the disciples are arranged at the table
- The mood of the festival celebration
- The foods being served at the festival celebration
- The type of bread depicted (e.g., regular loaf of bread, flat unleavened bread typical of Passover, or a flat round communion host)
Questions to Focus a General Interpretation
Based on the relationships and other details you observe in the artwork, does this depiction of the Last Supper seem to be more about friends’ gathering for a religious festival, memorializing Jesus’ sacrifice, Judas’ betrayal, Jesus’ encouraging the disciples to be servants, or some combination?
Does the mood of the artwork seem to relate more to the Passover festival or to Jesus’ impending death?
What relationship is depicted among the disciples and between Jesus and the disciples? Are these relationships depicted as open to including the viewers as disciples?
Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation
What about the artwork attracts you? What repels you? What might that say about what is going on in your life right now?
Does the artwork call you to reflect on the Eucharist as it is practiced in your worship community? Do you celebrate in thanksgiving? Do you reverence Jesus’ sacrifice? Do you remember the evil of the betrayal? Do you object to Jesus’ serving you, and are you taught to serve one another?
Do your experiences of Holy Communion provoke you to challenge some aspect of the artwork?
Would you depict the story differently? What would you emphasize?
Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation
Jesus and the Apostles gathered at the table can symbolize the institutional Church. Does the depiction of the table and seating arrangement suggest hospitality? What was or might have been going on in the artist’s time and place for this to have been the artist’s sense of the Church?
How would you describe the mood depicted in the artwork? How might this mood reflect the religious mood of the artist’s day? Does it seem like there was an emphasis on the celebration of a festival of thanksgiving? a reverential remembrance of Jesus’ death and sacrifice? a cautionary reminder of the ever present evil in the betrayer? a sharing of fellowship and mutual service?
What was or might have been going on during the artist’s time to lead to this framing of the event?
Would contemporary Christians want the same emphasis in a depiction of the Last Supper? Why?
