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1 of 253523 objects
The Supper at Emmaus c.1560-70
Oil on canvas | 169.3 x 237.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 403946
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Christ sits at the far side of the dining table. His hand is raised and he is blessing the bread He has just broken, thus revealing his true identity to the two travelers who accompany him at the table, one of whom is holding a pilgrim’s staff (Luke 24: 30-31). There are servants around the table, including a boy with a serving dish in the centre; several of them bow before Christ. At the doorway on the right an inn-keeper is seated with other figures; a cat and a dog are seen at the lower left. The background has a conspicuous fluted column and an opening to a landscape at the left, partially covered by a red curtain. It is uncertain whether this is an autograph work by Bassano; there are passages of beauty and naturalism, such as the shadow cast by the red wine glass, and the principal figures are convincing, but other parts (the table cloth and the red oriental hat of the kneeling figure) seem clumsily painted. Additional strips of canvas have been added to extend the composition on all sides. There is another version of the design at Dijon, Musée des Beaux-Arts (formerly in the French royal collection), and this may be autograph.
Provenance
Bears the red wax seal of the Capel family; one of a group of paintings acquired in 1731 with the lease of Kew House from Lady Elizabeth Capel by Frederick, Prince of Wales; listed at removed from the Anti Room at St James's Palace to Buckingham Palace in 1809
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
169.3 x 237.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
187.1 x 252.5 cm (frame, external)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Christ in the House of the Pharisee, previously entitled