Relief in polychromed, enamelled terracotta, depicting the Last Supper in reverse. By Giovanni della Robbia, Florence, 1515-1520.

Composition based on famous painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) in S. Maria delle Grazie in Milan (about 1496-7), but is shown in reverse. Relief is constructed of four sections joined vertically. The trestle table with white cloth and yellow legs, extends across the front plane of the relief. The robes are predominantly porphyry, blue, yellow, green, mauve, white, and brown, and the haloes are yellow save for those of Christ (cruciform nimbus in yellow and porphyry) and Judas (indeterminate dark colour). The flesh parts are glazed naturalistically. To the left under the table is a dog with a bone. The sloping surfaces at the top and sides are blue, and the outer edge yellow. Recessed inside a narrow yellow frame.

Puchased in Paris.
Composition based on famous painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) in S. Maria delle Grazie in Milan (about 1496-7), but is shown in reverse. It was possibly copied from an engraving, a technique which reproduces the design in reverse when printed. The subject was commonly found in monastic refectories (or dining rooms) and this relief may have come from the refectory of San Francesco at Barga, in the area of Lucca. Giovanni della Robbia was one of three of the sons of Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525) to enter his father's workshop. He received his own commissions from 1497 and increasingly took over the running of the workshop.

This composition is based on the famous painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) in S. Maria delle Grazie in Milan (about 1496-7), but is shown in reverse. It was possibly copied from an engraving, a technique which reproduces the design in reverse when printed. The subject was commonly found in monastic refectories (or dining rooms) and this relief may have come from the refectory of San Francesco at Barga, in the area of Lucca.

Giovanni della Robbia was one of three of the sons of Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525) to enter his father's workshop. He received his own commissions from 1497 and increasingly took over the running of the workshop.

3986:1 to 3-1856