The Last Supper

The Last Supper, painted in 1840 for Frederiksberg Church near Copenhagen, represents one of Eckersberg"s largest and most ambitious religious commissions. Church altarpieces were significant commissions in Lutheran Denmark, requiring the artist to combine devotional content with the naturalistic approach that his academic training demanded. The Frederiksberg Church commission placed Eckersberg"s work in a context of public worship. Eckersberg's religious works apply the same analytical clarity to devotional subjects that he brought to portraiture and marine painting.

The large-scale composition arranges Christ and the twelve disciples around the table in a format descended from Leonardo"s famous prototype. Eckersberg brings his characteristic analytical clarity to the arrangement of figures, with each apostle individually characterized. The palette is warm, with the interior lighting of the upper room providing the illumination. The handling adapts Eckersberg"s precise technique to the larger scale required by an altarpiece.