Last Suppers in Florence

During the Renaissance, the large monastic and mendicant orders were among the most important clients commissioning works of art for their churches, monasteries, and all buildings belonging to the religious communities. The rooms and halls where the monks worked, prayed, or ate together were decorated with images that recalled their fundamental beliefs, the foundation and history of their order, and the spiritual values which they pursued. The favorite subject was the Last Supper during which Christ initiated the sacrament of the Eucharist. In this talk, we will first examine the narratives of the Last Supper in the New Testament and the belief that Christ initiated the Eucharist at that supper.  We will take a brief look at a wide range of Last Suppers from widely diverse times and places.  Then we will focus on several monumental Last Supper frescoes in the refectories of several great churches in Florence and then take a brief look, in light of what we have just seen, at Leonardo's Last Supper in a refectory in Milan. Join world-renowned historian, Emeritus Professor Bill Cook for a careful look at the meaning and depiction of Last Suppers in Renaissance Florence.