The Last Supper

In this compact scene, Lucas van Leyden offered a condensed view of the Last Supper, focusing on Christ and Saint John—the Beloved Apostle—on the far side of the table and Judas—the apostle who would betray Christ—on the near side. Wine flows freely, mixing hints of its symbolic significance with a certain hunger for drink as shown by the disciple who receives a replenishment in the foreground. The artist may have seen or owned the 1510 woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, borrowing elements such as the vertical format, Christ’s relationship to John, and the platter on the table but rendering them in reverse and with fewer overall figures.