The Last Supper, Luke 22:19 Wall Art

Inside the upper room

Jesus sits at the middle of the table in a cream robe with a red mantle, his hands together over the bread. The disciples crowd in from both sides on low wooden stools, wrapped in cloaks of moss green, faded blue, brick red and brown, some bearded and gray, some young. On the cloth are a flat dish of bread, small bowls, clay jugs and two candles.

Behind them the stone walls glow in warm ocher. A niche on the left holds a jar and a little oil lamp; an arched window on the right opens onto a dark blue night and the tip of a cypress. Above the scene, in two lines of brown script: “This is my body which is given for you.” The reference, Luke 22:19, is set below.

What Jesus said at the Last Supper in Luke

The meal takes place at Passover, the feast that remembers Israel's escape from Egypt. Luke alone records Jesus saying how much he had longed to eat this Passover with his friends before his suffering. In the full verse Jesus does four things before he speaks (he takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks it and hands it round), and after the painted words he adds a command to repeat the meal in his memory. The cup follows in the next verse, called “the new testament in my blood”.

Paul quotes almost the same words in 1 Corinthians 11, a letter written only about twenty years after the event, which shows how early Christians were repeating them at their gatherings. The phrase “gave thanks” translates the Greek verb that gives us the word Eucharist.

Christians have understood the meal in different ways. Catholic and Orthodox believers speak of the real presence of Christ in the consecrated bread and wine; Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists and others each have their own vocabulary for the Lord's Supper or Communion. What they all share is the command at the end of the verse, which is why “This do in remembrance of me” is carved on so many wooden communion tables.

A gift for First Communion

For a child receiving the Eucharist for the first time, this print puts the very words of the day on the bedroom wall, in a scene clear enough for a seven-year-old to follow. Godparents often give it with the date written on the back.

Outside the sacraments, a Last Supper has long had its place above the family table. The warm palette suits a kitchen or dining room, and during Holy Week it is a natural image to hang near where the household eats together.