The Last Supper

Francisco Henriques's The Last Supper, painted around 1508 and now in the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon, is one of the most significant surviving works by this Flemish-born painter who became the leading figure of early sixteenth-century Portuguese painting. Henriques likely trained in the Netherlands before arriving in Portugal, where he was commissioned alongside Jorge Afonso to paint altarpieces for monasteries funded by Portuguese trade wealth from the Indies. The Last Supper — Christ's final meal with his apostles on the night of his betrayal — was a standard subject for monastic refectories and high altarpieces alike. Henriques brings Northern attention to physiognomic individuality and textile detail to this canonical subject.

The twelve apostles and Christ are arranged around a table rendered in perspective, with careful individual characterization of each figure. Flemish influence is visible in the precise, enamel-like surface and attention to material description — bread, wine cup, embroidered tablecloth. The color range is rich and varied.