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. This means that for a viewer in the 15th century, the Last Supper was not a faraway event in an ancient land, but something happening right there, in their own city. The sacred mystery of the Eucharist becomes intertwined with the civic and daily life of the people. This seamless blend of the divine and the familiar is what drew me to Flemish art in the first place, and it’s what I hope to share with you in the stories and images to come!

Detail of the window in the central panel, with buildings that make us think the scene of the "Last Supper" is taking place in a building of Leuven's Grote Markt

Town Hall of Leuven        Author: Eddy Van 3000