Albrecht Dürer
German, 1471-1528
The Last Supper, 1523
Woodcut

Bold lines and energetic shapes carve out this poignant scriptural scene. Albrecht Dürer’s approach to the Last Supper episode is unexpected. He does not represent Christ’s institution of the Eucharist, nor the indication of his impending betrayal. Instead, Jesus sits at the center of a table with 11 of his disciples after the announcement of his betrayal has occurred. Judas has left, and the other disciples are visibly distraught.
A charger sits prominently in the foreground, curiously empty. The lamb typically included represents the sacrifice and actual body of Christ. This image reflects the contemporary debate around Eucharistic theology during the Protestant Reformation. Since Reformers no longer considered the Mass and Eucharist a “sacrifice,” some Last Supper imagery omitted the sacrificial lamb, as Dürer does here. The basket of bread and wine in the right foreground likely refers to the Reformers’ rejection of the exclusivity of the Eucharistic cup for clergy only – the vessel of wine here is available to all. Dürer’s expressive use of repeating black lines, compositional force and visual vigor of the woodcut medium magnificently conveys this powerful scene.