Last Supper, The thumbnail 1
Last Supper, The thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sacred Silver & Stained Glass, Room 84, The Whiteley Galleries

Last Supper, The

Panel
ca. 1505 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The scene depicted in this panel is a traditional representation of the Last Supper. The Twelve Apostles are gathered around the central figure of Jesus Christ, and the young John the Evangelist lays his head on Christ’s lap. At the Crucifixion, Christ will entrust him with the care of his mother, Mary.

Christ will soon announce that one of the Apostles is going to betray him. We see Judas in the foreground, identified by the red bag he carries. This contains the 30 pieces of silver with which the authorities bribed him to betray Christ.

This image derives from a design by the artist Hans Baldung Grien (1484/5–1545). It was adapted by a craftsman in the stained-glass workshop of Veit Hirschvogel the Elder in Nuremberg. The panel was originally in the Augustinian church of St Veit in Nuremberg.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleLast Supper, The (generic title)
Materials and techniques
clear and coloured glass with painted and stained details
Brief description
Clear and coloured glass with painted details and yellow (silver) stain depicting the Last Supper and Judas with the Thirty Pieces of Silver. Made in Nuremberg, Germany, ca.1505.
Physical description
The twelve Apostles are grouped around a table in the traditional manner. Christ is in the centre, handing something to Judas who occupies the right foreground and holds the purse of silver. St John the Evangelist is next to Christ. Behind is a wall with three windows leadd with diamond quarries. Across the top of the panel is a flat arch of branches and curly foliage.
Dimensions
  • Height: 34.5in (Note: 5 February 2018 estimated measurements (can't confirm until object is removed from display): Height: 94.1 cm Width: 51.7 cm Depth: 3.2 cm)
  • Width: 18in
  • Height: 87.6cm
  • Width: 45.8cm
Taken from Stained Glass Handlist
Gallery label
This panel originally formed part of a window in the choir of the Augustinian church of St Veit in Nuremberg, commissioned by the wealthy merchant and patron Sebald Schreyer in 1504. Germany (Nuremberg), 1504-5; Workshop of Veit Hirsvogel the Elder, after a design by Hans Baldung Grien Museum no. C.409-1919((PW) 2003)
Object history
Purchased from Grosvenor Thomas.
From the Augustiner Kirche St. Veit in Nuremberg. Formerly in the collection of Lord Herbert of Lea. Bought by the V&A from Grosvenor Thomas.
(date?) Note in Register: Exhibition of stained glass at the Fine Art Society, New Bond Street, was no.130.
The panel is adapted with slight variations from a copper-plate engraving by the monogrammist AG (by some identified with Albrecht Glockenton, the second of a series of the Passion, reproduced in P.M. Barnard's catalogue of early woodcuts and engravings, no.50, ill. facing p.28 (no.114, p.20).
Note in Register: Dr. Hans Wentzel writes in a letter (10 January 1961) "As to your panel of The Last Supper of 1511 it is part of the great cycle (unpublished) in the church of Grossgrudnlach-wörhd, a suburb of Nurnberg; this panel goes back to a design of Hans Baldung-Grien."
Note in Register: Karl-Adolf Knappe, Eine nurnberger Scheibe der Durerzeit in London, Pantheon, VI, Nov-Dec 1962, pp.355-362, siggests that the panel belonged to a window dedicated to St Augustine's, Nuremberg by Sebald Schreyer in 1504. He considers that the panel was adapted from a design by Hans Baldung Grien. A fragment from a panel showing the same design is at Nuremberg-Wohrd. This and another panel at Wohrd, Grossgundlach and Henfenfeld were dispersed from the great cycle installed about 1511 in the cloister of the Carmelite Monastery at Nuremberg. C.409-1919 is therefore unlikely to belong to that cycle.
Historical context
The scene depicted in this panel is a traditional representation of the Last Supper. The twelve Apostles are gathered round the central figure of Jesus Christ. The young John the Evangelist, to whom Christ entrusts the care of his mother after his death, lays his head on Christ's lap.

Christ will soon announce that one of the apostles will betry him. Judas is visible in the foreground and is identified by the red bag he carries containing the thirty pieces of silver he was bribed with by the authorities to betray Christ.

This image derives from a design by the artist Hans Baldung Grien (1484/5-1545). It was adapted by a craftsmen in the stained glass workshop of Veit Hirschvogel the Elder in Nuremberg.

The panel was commisioned in 1504 by the wealthy merchant and patron Sebald Shreyer for a window in the choir of the Augustinian church of St. Veit in Nuremberg.
Production
Workshop of Veit Hirschvogel the Elder, after a design by Hans Baldung Grien (1484/5-1545)
Subjects depicted
Summary
The scene depicted in this panel is a traditional representation of the Last Supper. The Twelve Apostles are gathered around the central figure of Jesus Christ, and the young John the Evangelist lays his head on Christ’s lap. At the Crucifixion, Christ will entrust him with the care of his mother, Mary.

Christ will soon announce that one of the Apostles is going to betray him. We see Judas in the foreground, identified by the red bag he carries. This contains the 30 pieces of silver with which the authorities bribed him to betray Christ.

This image derives from a design by the artist Hans Baldung Grien (1484/5–1545). It was adapted by a craftsman in the stained-glass workshop of Veit Hirschvogel the Elder in Nuremberg. The panel was originally in the Augustinian church of St Veit in Nuremberg.
Bibliographic references
  • K.-A. Knappe, 'Eine Nurnberger Scheibe der Durerzeit in London', Pantheon, 20 (1962), pp.355-62
  • K. Oettinger & K.-A. Knappe, Hans Baldung Grien und Albrecht Durer in Nurnberg, Nuremberg, 1963
  • H. Scholz, Die mittelalterlichen Glasmalerein in Mittelfranken und Nurnberg extra muros, CVMA Germany, vol. 10/I, Berlin, 2002
  • Charles Winston, Memoirs illustrative of the art of glass-painting, London, 1865
  • P.M. Barnard, Catalogue of Early Woodcuts and Engravings
Collection
Accession number
C.409-1919

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Record createdAugust 9, 2002
Record URL
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