The Supper at Emmaus
1601 · Oil on canvas · National Gallery, London
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About this work
- Artist
- Caravaggio (1571–1610)
- Year
- 1601
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 141 × 196.2 cm
- Collection
- National Gallery, London
- Movement
- Baroque
The risen Christ, beardless and young, blesses bread at an inn table, and the two disciples who had not recognised him react: one flings his arms wide, the other grips his chair, while the innkeeper looks on without understanding. Caravaggio painted it in Rome in 1601 for the banker Ciriaco Mattei. The moment of recognition from the Gospel of Luke is staged at life size with a basket of fruit teetering on the table's edge, so the drama spills toward the viewer. The light comes from one source at the left and the background is bare wall, the formula that made Caravaggio's reputation and that painters across Europe would copy. He returned to the subject in a quieter version in 1606, now in Milan. The London canvas has been in the National Gallery since 1839.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
One light source, bare wall and a table of bread and fruit make this a dining-room piece, over the sideboard at 24×18 in black. It wants a dark or warm wall and low evening light so the figures come forward from the shadow.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Baroque painting
- Era
- 17th century (1601)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- dining room, living room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×18. Prints at 16×12, 24×18 in — 16×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×18 above a console or sideboard.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Supper at Emmaus in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Supper at Emmaus painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
