Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Baroque

Caravaggio Paintings 1571 - 1610 Italy, Baroque Painter

Supper at Emmaus, 1601-1602

Oil on canvas, 54 5/8 x 76 3/4 inches (139 x 195 cm)

National Gallery, London

Religious Paintings

6 from 36

Caravaggio Painting Work Samples

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OIL PAINTING: Supper at Emmaus, 1601-1602
The gospel according to St Luke (24:13-32) tells of the meeting of two disciples with the resurrected Christ. It is only during the meal that his companions recognize him in the way he blesses and breaks the bread. But with that, the vision of Christ vanishes. In the gospel according to St Mark (16:12) he is said to have appeared to them "in an other form" which is why Caravaggio did not paint him with a beard at the age of his crucifixion, but as a youth.
The realism with which Caravaggio treated even religious subjects like the Supper at Emmaus- apostles who look like labourers, the plump and slightly feminine figure of Christ - met with the vehement disapproval of the clergy.