Last Supper 1325

Giotto painted this small panel of the Last Supper, now in Munich's Alte Pinakothek, sometime around 1320, very likely in Florence. Giotto was celebrated for bringing a new naturalism and humanism to religious scenes. But it's important to remember that paintings like this served very specific institutional purposes. Commissioned for private devotion, this panel allowed wealthy patrons to imagine themselves as participants in sacred events. The composition, with its flattened space, directs our attention to the emotional drama. Note the halos, which are a visual code marking the figures as holy and setting them apart from earthly viewers like us. This was a period of immense religious faith, and the patronage of art was a key way for elites to demonstrate piety and secure their social standing. We can research the commissioning context and the religious beliefs of the period to better understand the role images like this played in the lives of medieval Europeans. Art always reflects the social and institutional frameworks within which it is created and consumed.