Laatste avondmaal 1586 - 1650

Cornelis Galle I made this engraving of the Last Supper sometime around the turn of the 17th century. It depicts a foundational moment in Christian belief, in which Christ institutes the Eucharist and anticipates his imminent betrayal. The print’s visual language is rooted in the conventions of Counter-Reformation art. Galle was based in Antwerp, a city that remained Catholic during the period of the Dutch Revolt. His image follows in the tradition of artists like Peter Paul Rubens, who combined Italian High Renaissance influences with a distinctly Catholic interpretation of scripture. It reinforces the church’s sacramental rituals at a time when they were under attack by Protestant reformers. To understand the image more fully, we can consult sources such as theological treatises, histories of the Counter-Reformation, and inventories of prints circulating in Antwerp at the time. Art is always entangled with the social and institutional contexts that shape its production and reception.