Supper at Emmaus (Caravaggio, London)

External video
External video
	Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus, Smarthistory

Supper at Emmaus
Supper at Emmaus
Artist	Caravaggio
Year	1601
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	141 cm × 196.2 cm (56 in × 77.2 in)
Location	National Gallery, London

The Supper at Emmaus is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, executed in 1601, and now in London. Originally this painting was commissioned and paid for by Ciriaco Mattei, brother of cardinal Girolamo Mattei.

The painting depicts the moment when the resurrected but incognito Jesus, reveals himself to two of his disciples (presumed to be Luke and Cleopas) in the town of Emmaus, only to soon vanish from their sight (Gospel of Luke 24: 30–31). Cleopas wears the scallop shell of a pilgrim. The other apostle wears torn clothes. Cleopas gesticulates in a perspectively-challenging extension of arms in and out of the frame of reference. The standing groom, forehead smooth and face in darkness, appears oblivious to the event. The painting is unusual for the life-sized figures, the dark and blank background. The table lays out a still-life meal. Like the world these apostles knew, the basket of food teeters perilously over the edge.^[1]

Supper at Emmaus (Milan), 1606. Brera, Milan.

In the Gospel of Mark (16:12) Jesus is said to have appeared to them "in another form", which may be why he is depicted beardless here, as opposed to the bearded Christ in Calling of St Matthew, where a group of seated money counters is interrupted by the recruiting Christ. It is also a recurring theme in Caravaggio's paintings to find the sublime interrupting the daily routine. The unexalted humanity is apt for this scene, since the human Jesus has made himself unrecognizable to his disciples, and at once confirms and surmounts his humanity. Caravaggio seems to suggest that perhaps a Jesus could enter our daily encounters. The dark background envelops the tableau.

Caravaggio painted another version of the Supper at Emmaus (now in the Brera, Milan) in 1606. By comparison, the gestures of figures are far more restrained, making presence more important than performance. The art techniques used in both versions is the Trompe-l'œil style which seems to allow charcaters moving in their gestures, as a means to grab the attention of the observers.^[2]

This difference possibly reflects the circumstances of Caravaggio's life at that point (he had fled Rome as an outlaw following the death of Ranuccio Tomassoni), or possibly, recognising the ongoing evolution of his art, in the intervening five years he had come to recognise the value of understatement.

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus". Smarthistory at Khan Academy. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
^ Roberto Longhi, Caravaggio, Editori Riuniti 2006. ISBN 8835958717.

External links[]

Painters of reality: The legacy of Leonardo and Caravaggio in Lombardy^{[dead link]}, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on this painting (see index)

[smarth-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus". Smarthistory at Khan Academy. Retrieved February 13, 2013.

[2] Roberto Longhi, Caravaggio, Editori Riuniti 2006. ISBN 8835958717.

[1]

[2]

show v t Caravaggio
List of paintings
1593–1594	Boy Peeling Fruit (c. 1592) Young Sick Bacchus (c. 1593) Boy with a Basket of Fruit (c. 1593) Boy Bitten by a Crayfish (c. 1593, lost) The Fortune Teller (c. 1594) The Cardsharps (c. 1594)
1595–1599 Del Monte paintings	The Musicians (c. 1595) Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (c. 1595) Boy Bitten by a Lizard (c. 1596) The Lute Player (c. 1596) Bacchus (c. 1596) Penitent Magdalene (c. 1597) Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c. 1597) Medusa (c. 1597) Portrait of a Courtesan (Fillide Melandroni) (c. 1597) Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto (c. 1597) Saint Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1598) The Sacrifice of Isaac (Princeton) (c. 1598) John the Baptist (c. 1598) Martha and Mary Magdalene (c. 1598) Portrait of Maffeo Barberini (1598) Basket of Fruit (c. 1599) Judith Beheading Holofernes (c. 1599) David and Goliath (c. 1599) Narcissus (c. 1599)
1600–1606 Most famous painter in Rome	The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599–1600) The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew (1599–1600) The Conversion of Saint Paul (1600) The Crucifixion of Saint Peter (1601) The Conversion of Saint Paul on the Road to Damascus (1601) Supper at Emmaus (London) (1601) The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew Amor Victorious (1602) Saint Matthew and the Angel (1602, destroyed) The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602) The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (c. 1602) The Taking of Christ (1602) The Entombment of Christ (c. 1603) Madonna of Loreto (Madonna dei Pellegrini, Pilgrims' Madonna) (c. 1604) The Crowning with Thorns (Prato) (1604) The Death of the Virgin (1604) Saint Francis in Meditation (c. 1603) Christ on the Mount of Olives (1605) Ecce Homo (c. 1605) Saint Jerome in Meditation (c. 1605) Saint Jerome Writing (Borghese) (c. 1605) Portrait of Pope Paul V (1605) Still Life with Fruit (1605) Madonna and Child with St. Anne (Madonna de Palafrenieri) (1606)
1606–1608 Naples and Malta	Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy (1606) Saint Francis in Prayer (Cremona) (1606) Supper at Emmaus (Milan) (1606) The Seven Works of Mercy (1606) The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew (1607) David with the Head of Goliath (Vienna) (1607) Madonna of the Rosary (1607) The Crowning with Thorns (Vienna) (1607) The Flagellation of Christ (c. 1607) Christ at the Column (c. 1607) Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (London) (c. 1607) Saint Jerome Writing (Valletta) (1607) Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and his Page (1607–1608) Portrait of Fra Antonio Martelli (1608) The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (1608) Sleeping Cupid (1608)
1608–1610 Sicily and Naples	The Annunciation (1608) Burial of St. Lucy (1608) The Raising of Lazarus (1609) Adoration of the Shepherds (1609) Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence (1609, lost) Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (Madrid) (1609) Denial of Saint Peter (1610) The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (1610) David with the Head of Goliath (Rome) (1610)
Related	Paintings attributed to Caravaggio Utrecht Caravaggism Caravaggisti Caravaggio, il pittore maledetto Caravaggio (1986 film) Caravaggio (2007 film)

show Authority control
General	Integrated Authority File (Germany) VIAF 1 WorldCat (via VIAF)
National libraries	France (data) United States

Supper at Emmaus (Caravaggio, London)

See also[]

References[]

Further reading[]

External links[]