(Aelst 1502–1550 Brussels)
The Last Supper,
oil on copper, 39.5 x 58.5 cm, framed

The present copper, depicting a diverse and richly rendered biblical narrative unfolding in a palatial renaissance setting is a prime example of the output of Pieter Coecke van Aelst and his accomplished workshop. Depicting the Last Supper, it makes use of virtuoso blending of both Italianate and Nothern motifs. Although Coecke himself may have seen Leonardo’s renowned fresco of the subject during his own formative travels in Italy, and while uses similar techniques of linear perspective and the Leonardesque sense that the action and expression of each disciple should exude the ‘notions of the mind’ that so obsessed the Lombard master, Coecke has employed several innovations that make the composition here his own.

Rather than the austere interior depicted in the Cenacolo, the fine stone of the banqueting hall, with its coffered ceiling and chequered floor are further embellished by hung tondos, recognisable to a Flemish viewer as depicting motifs from prints by Coecke’s illustrious contemporary, Jan Gossart, namely Cain Slaying Abel and David and Goliath. The rendering of the landscape through the window, and the still lifes of fruit in the foreground are details which vary between the no less than 45 versions of the Last Supper painted by Coecke and his workshop, allowing the many versions to be individualised. Presumably Coecke, also an accomplished stained glass and tapestry designer, drew an original model for transference onto panel, canvas and copper by his accomplished workshop through the use of cartoons, explaining the stylistic coherency, but also subtle variations, among the many versions of this popular example of Antwerp Mannerism.