Art Museum Journal

to Art Institute of Chicago
By STAN PARCHIN

September 11, 2009
 

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (Italian, 1571-1610). The Supper at Emmaus (1601). Oil on canvas. 141 x 196.2 cm (55 1/2 x 77 1/4 in.). National Gallery, London.

The Art Institute of Chicago is privileged to display The Supper at Emmaus (1601) by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), one of three important paintings by the Italian artist in London's National Gallery, from October 10, 2009 to January 15, 2010. In exchange, the AIC is lending The Crucifixion (1627) by Spaniard Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664) to the revered British museum for The Sacred Made Real: Spanish Painting and Sculpture 1600-1700 (October 21, 2009-January 24, 2010).
 
The Supper at Emmaus
Caravaggio's The Supper at Emmaus was commissioned by Roman nobleman Ciriaco Mattei in 1601. It portrays an unusually beardless Jesus Christ, after his Crucifixion, death and Resurrection, blessing bread for two men who suddenly realize his true identity (Luke 24: 30-31). In this oil on canvas composition, Caravaggio, a master of still-life painting, placed much emphasis on the realistic rendering of the table's food and dinnerware. A prime example of the artist's expertise in the chiaroscuro technique, the Savior's followers are sharply illuminated against a dark background, thus enhancing dramatically the sculptural figures' forms and their expressive gestures.
 
At the Art Institute of Chicago, the irascible Caravaggio's painting takes up temporary residence in Gallery 211.
 
Caravaggio's The Supper at Emmaus was last seen stateside in the special exhibition Painters of Reality: The Legacy of Leonardo and Caravaggio in Lombardy (May 27-August 15, 2004) at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.