The Last Supper, 1630 by Peter Paul Rubens

The Last Supper, 1630 by Peter Paul Rubens
The Last Supper, 1630 by Peter Paul Rubens

The Last Supper, 1630 is an oil painting by Peter Paul Rubens. Rubens created it as part of an altarpiece in the Church of St. Rombout (Rumbold) in Mechelen. The painting depicts Jesus and the Apostles during the Last Supper, with Judas dressed in blue turning back towards the viewer and away from the table. Other than Jesus, the most prominent figure is Judas. Judas holds his right hand to his mouth with his eyes avoiding direct contact with the other figures in the painting creating a nervous expression.

Last Supper fresco by Leonrod da Vinci was a significant influence on Rubens who created an etching after the Davinci Last Supper.

The work, like many others from the late production of Rubens, was executed with the help of assistants: it is painted in a warm and intense style, in which bold lines shape forms framed in a composition of majestic classical equilibrium. The influence of 16th-century Italian painting, especially that of the Veneto, is evident.