Giovanni Lanfranco
, Italian, 1582-1647
Title
The Last SupperDate1624-1625
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
229 x 426 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 1856
Object numberNGI.67
DescriptionOne of the major reaffirmations of the sixteenth-century Counter Reformation was the real presence of the body of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Numerous artistic campaigns for altarpieces and chapels were dedicated to this dogma of the Catholic Church. Among the most ambitious of these programmes was the redecoration of the Sacrament Chapel of the Basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura (Saint-Paul’s-Outside-the-Walls) in Rome. This commission was entrusted to Giovanni Lanfranco in the early 1620s. Lanfranco completed eight works on canvas and three wall paintings in just two years – an illustration of his impressive command of both fresco and oil painting. The National Gallery of Ireland have two paintings by Lanfranco from this series in its collection: The Miracle of Loaves and Fishes and The Last Supper. Identical in size, these are the largest of the eight paintings on canvas that once hung in the Sacrament Chapel. The Last Supper is the final subject of Lanfranco’s cycle, and was the focal point of the Sacrament Chapel decorations. It represents the culmination of the theme of the chapel, in which the establishment of the Eucharist during Christ’s last supper is illustrated. According to the New Testament, the Last Supper was the final meal that Christ shared with his apostles in Jerusalem immediately before his arrest and crucifixion.
ProvenanceCommissioned from the artist, 1621; completed and installed in the Cappella del Sacramento (Blessed Sacrament Chapel) of the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura (Saint-Paul’s-Outside-the-Walls, Rome, Italy), 1624–1625; in Cappella del Sacramento until about 1660-68; then moved to sacristy; later to refectory; moved to Convento di San Callisto, Rome, by 1763; acquired by Cardinal Joseph Fesch (Paris, 1763–Rome, 1839) by about 1803/1806; held in trust by estate of Cardinal Joseph Fesch, 1839–1843; sold, Fesch sale, Rome, 17 April, 1843, lot 584, to Alessandro Aducci; purchased from Alessandro Aducci by the National Gallery of Ireland, 1856 (one of sixteen pictures acquired by the NGI for £1,700). Exhibition HistoryIrish Institution, 1859
Paintings from the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of Saint Paul's without the Walls, Rome, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 25 September 1968
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