Religious Art And Religion Depicted In The Last Supper

Art often reflects the sentiments from the time it was created. As Shakespeare asserted in his play Hamlet, the “purpose of playing” is “to hold as ‘twere the mirror up to nature” conveying the idea that art should reflect our reality (Schloss). This can be applied to all art, including religious art. From the 12th to 17th centuries in Northern Europe, the culture and the style of religious art changed to better reflect the tensions and reality that many were living in. Religious art from the 12th to the 17th century in Northern Europe evolved stylistically due to reformations within the church. A comparison of three different religious artworks and the context of the time will give insight into the views on religion at the time of creation.

In the middle panel is a portrayal of the last supper while the panel on the left shows priest Melchizedek giving bread and wine to Abraham and the right shows manna falling from above to feed Moses and the Israelites (The Last Supper). When closed, the outside of the triptych displays the Garden of Eden, in it Eve offering the forbidden fruit to Adam, the original sin (The Last Supper). Thus, this image acts as a sort of introduction to the New Testament scene which lies inside the Last Supper. In this depiction of this biblical story, the last supper takes place in an elaborately lavish setting. It is decorated with sculptures, garlands, and a brocade (The Last Supper). In addition to this, all of the figures in this scene are animated, probably as Christ warns them that one of them will betray him (The Last Supper). Both the right and left panel show stories that preceded the last supper. The scene with Melchizedek on the left panel is a “prefiguration of the Eucharist” and the right also foreshadows the Eucharist as in the gathering of the Manna wafers fell from above (The Last

The inclusion of two scenes that deal with the Eucharist reflects the religious concerns at the time. The Protestant Reformation challenged the authority of the church as well as the Catholic church’s ability to define Christian practice (The Reformation). Thus, there is tension between the Protestants and Catholics but one of the main points of disagreement is the Eucharist, mainly the presence of the bread and wine. The Protestants believed that after the consecration the bread and wine were not transformed into the body and blood of Christ while Catholics asserted that through the divine, the bread and wine had changed through the consecration (Littlejohn). Thomas Aquinas in Summa asserts that “some have held that the substance of the bread and wine remains in this sacrament after the consecration. But this opinion can not stand” (Littlejohn). This aligns with the Council of Trent which insisted that anyone who believed this was to be condemned of heresy (Littlejohn). Thus, Albrecht Dürers The Last Supper and the inclusion of the Eucharist seem to be referencing the religious tensions at the