Caravaggio Painted the Supper at Emmaus Twice: What Changed
In 1601 Caravaggio painted the moment Christ is recognised at Emmaus with drama and bright colour. Five years later, after fleeing Rome, he painted it again, quieter and darker.
Two paintings of the same story, by the same artist, hang today in London and Milan. Comparing them shows how much Caravaggio's art changed in a few years.
The story
According to the Gospel of Luke, two disciples meet a stranger on the road to Emmaus after the Crucifixion and recognise him as the risen Christ only when he blesses the bread at supper. Both paintings show that moment of recognition.1
London, 1601: drama
The first version was painted in 1601 for the Roman nobleman Ciriaco Mattei. It measures 141 × 196.2 cm and was presented to the National Gallery by George Vernon in 1839.1
Christ is young and beardless. The disciples react with sweeping gestures, a basket of fruit teeters on the edge of the table, the innkeeper looks on uncomprehending, and light falls behind Christ's head like a reverse halo.1
Milan, 1605–1606: stillness
The second version is dated 1605–1606 and measures 141 × 175 cm. It was probably painted on the estates of the Colonna family at Paliano, after Caravaggio fled Rome having killed Ranuccio Tomassoni. The Friends of Brera bought it for the Pinacoteca in 1939.2
Compared with the London picture, this version is more intimate and plainer: the gestures are restrained, the table is almost bare and the colours are darker.2
Our video, in English, compares the two versions side by side.
Sources
- 1Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, The Supper at Emmaus (NG172). The National Gallery, London
- 2Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus (inv. 2296). Pinacoteca di Brera
