The Supper at Emmaus
- Artist: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
- Date: 1601
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is "The Supper at Emmaus" by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, painted in 1601. It's a moment of intense drama, captured in the ordinary domestic setting of an inn. The story itself comes from Luke's Gospel, where two of Jesus's disciples are walking to Emmaus when they meet the resurrected Christ. They fail to recognize him initially but, as we see here, their eyes are suddenly opened when he takes bread and blesses it at supper.
Caravaggio captures this dramatic moment with incredible skill, using contrasts of light and shade to heighten the drama. A strong light from the left falls on the faces of Christ and one of the disciples, casting a shadow behind them that's almost like a reverse halo. The artist also uses a geometric structure to guide our eye around the picture.
The figures in the painting are incredibly lifelike – you can even see the innkeeper standing at the back, looking impassive with his face in shadow. And the still life on the table is so detailed and realistic that it draws us into the scene, making the miracle feel all too real.
See it in person
The Supper at Emmaus hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
