The Last Supper

The Last Supper of 1466 is the central panel of the Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament in Sint-Pieterskerk, Leuven, one of the most important works of Flemish panel painting. Commissioned by the Leuven Confraternity of the Holy Sacrament, the altarpiece uses Old Testament typology in the wings to argue that Christian eucharistic practice fulfills the history of divine nourishment from Abraham through Moses. Bouts renders the Last Supper in a remarkable contemporary Flemish interior, with Christ consecrating the bread while apostles respond with varied expressions of devotion. The architectural precision, still-life detail, and individual physiognomy make this a touchstone of Flemish narrative painting.

The Last Supper scene is set within a precisely constructed interior using one-point perspective, Bouts's pioneering spatial system creating a mathematically coherent room that was among the most sophisticated architectural renderings in fifteenth-century Northern European art.