A mundane look into Dierc Bouts' "Last Supper"
For this very first post, I want to begin with the work that inspired me to create this blog: Dieric Bouts’ Last Supper (c.1464–1468), the central panel of his masterwork, the Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament , located in the St. Peter’s Church in Leuven. Dieric Bouts, "Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament", c. 1464-1468, oil on panel, St. Peter's Church, Leuven At first glance, it’s a familiar biblical moment. Christ and the apostles gathered for the final meal before the Passion. But Bouts does something extraordinary: he sets the scene not in Jerusalem, but in a 15th-century Flemish dining room. The apostles sit around a table with unleavened bread and fine Burgundian glassware, served through a kitchen hatch in the background. Detail of the central panel, where the "Last Supper" is depicted And then comes my favorite detail: through the open window to the left, you can see part of Leuven’s Grote Markt , with its recently built gothic town hall or stadhuis ....