The Last Supper

probably c. 1509/1510

Albrecht Dürer

Associated Names
Albrecht Dürer

Artist, German, 1471 - 1528

This print shows a group of twelve men sitting and standing around a round table. The central figure is a man with long hair and a beard, with radiant white lines extending outward from his head, pointing upwards and to either side. He raises one hand upwards, standing behind a person sitting at the table who appears to be sleeping. On either side of him are more standing men who appear to converse with each other, while four more men sit at the round table with their backs to us. The men have various expressions and hairstyles, and they all seem to have light skin and wear draping robes. On the table, there is a plate with what looks like meat, cups, and bread. The background is a simple room, the walls decorated with thin horizontal lines. A large jug is on the ground by the seated men, near the bottom right corner of the print.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to block): 12.7 × 9.8 cm (5 × 3 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.3640

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Meder, no. 133

  • Series Title

    The Small Woodcut Passion

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Joseph Daniel Böhm [1794-1865], Vienna (Lugt 271); Robert Scholtz [1834-1912], Budapest (Lugt 2241); (William Schab, New York); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA (Lugt 1760b and Lugt 1932d), 1940; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1956

  • The Life of Christ in Prints, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1956-1957, no cat.

Bibliography

1932

  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog; ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna: Verlag Gilhofer und Ranschburg, 1932. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

2001

  • Schoch, Rainer, Mattihas Mende, and Anna Scherbaum. Albrecht Dürer: Das druckgraphische Werk. Munich, 2001: vol. 2: no. 194.

Inscriptions

in block, bottom center, on ground: AD [artist's monogram]; verso, lower center, in graphite by a later hand: 627; verso, lower left, in graphite by a later hand: B 24 [faded]; verso, lower left, in graphite by a later hand: [indecipherable] verso, bottom center, in graphite by a later hand: 9

Watermarks

large imperial orb (Meder 53) [fragment?]

Wikidata ID

Q18338588

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