The Olive Terrace, Last Supper Watercolor Print

What is painted

A long table covered with a white cloth stretches diagonally across a paved stone terrace. Around it sit Jesus and the twelve apostles on wooden stools, in robes of rust, olive, brown and slate blue, some leaning toward each other in conversation. Bread, clay cups and dishes are laid down the length of the table, with a garland of green leaves running along its center.

An old olive tree rises on the left and spreads its branches over the scene. A low stone wall edges the terrace, and beyond it the view opens to rolling hills, cypresses and blue mountains. The watercolor is loose and airy, in sand, olive and soft blue, with speckled edges dissolving into white. There is no text on the print.

From the table to the olive trees

The Gospels place the Last Supper in a large upper room in Jerusalem, and this painting takes an artist's liberty by setting it outdoors. The olive tree is not random, though. Matthew and Mark both say that when the meal was over and they had sung a hymn, Jesus and his disciples went out to the Mount of Olives. Luke adds that he went there, as he was wont.

That night, in a garden called Gethsemane on the slope of that hill, Jesus prayed while his disciples slept, and there he was arrested. The name Gethsemane is generally understood to mean oil press, a place where olives were crushed.

By joining the meal and the olive grove in one image, the painting holds together the bread that was broken at the table and the night that followed.

For a dining room, a First Communion or Holy Week

A Last Supper scene belongs naturally in a dining room or a kitchen, where the family gathers around its own table. This outdoor version, with its light Mediterranean colors, fits especially well in a bright room, a sunroom or a home with stone and wood.

It is a lovely First Communion gift, a present for a Catholic family, or a print to hang during Lent and Easter. This Christian poster is printed to order in the US on heavy archival matte paper, in sizes from 5x7 to 24x36 and in metric formats, and ships unframed.