The Last Supper

The Last Supper by the Master of the Housebook, painted around 1480 and now in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, depicts the final meal shared between Christ and the twelve apostles on the eve of the Passion, which established the institution of the Eucharist and was the occasion for Christ's announcement that one among them would betray him. The Last Supper was among the most frequently painted subjects in Christian art, and its representation in a German panel painting of the 1480s situates this work within the tradition of Passion cycle altarpieces that also included the master's Washing of the Apostles' Feet, Resurrection, and other related panels. The Master of the Housebook brought to this canonical scene his characteristic approach to differentiating character through varied facial expressions and gestures, making the apostles a gallery of psychological types rather than a row of interchangeable holy figures.

The master arranges the apostles around a long table with the careful attention to varied expression and gesture that distinguishes his figural style from more schematic approaches to the subject. Christ at center is the compositional and spiritual axis, and the moment of announcement — one of you will betray me — is registered in the varied reactions of the surrounding disciples.