Last Supper in Christian art

The Last Supper of Jesus and the Twelve Apostles has been a popular subject in Christian art, often as part of a cycle showing the Life of Christ. Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art date back to early Christianity and can be seen in the Catacombs of Rome.

The Last Supper was depicted both in the Eastern and Western Churches. By the Renaissance, it was a favorite subject in Italian art. It was also one of the few subjects to be continued in Lutheran altarpieces for a few decades after the Protestant Reformation.

There are two major scenes shown in depictions of the Last Supper: the dramatic announcement of the betrayal of Jesus, and the institution of the Eucharist. After the meal the further scenes of Jesus washing the feet of his apostles and the farewell of Jesus to his disciples are also sometimes depicted.

The earliest known written reference to the Last Supper is in Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians (), which dates to the middle of the first century. The Last Supper was likely a retelling of the events of the last meal of Jesus among the early Christian community, and became a ritual which referred to that meal. The earliest depictions of such meals occur in the frescoes of the Catacomb of Rome, where figures are depicted reclining around semi-circular tables. In spite of near unanimous assent, the historicity of the evidence, one lone scholar comments that "The motif of the Last supper appears neither among the paintings of the catacombs nor the sculptures on sarcophagi ... The few frescos in the catacombs representing a meal in which Christ and some of the disciples participate show not the Last supper but refer to the future meal promised by the exalted Christ in his heavenly kingdom", seeing the subject as beginning to be depicted in the 6th century.

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