Workshop of Jacopo da Ponte, called Jacopo Bassano

The supper at Emmaus is one of a number of canvases with biblical themes painted by Jacopo Bassano in the 1570s. The present composition relates most closely to Christ in the house of Martha and Mary, now in the Galerie des Offices (oil on canvas, 81 x 116 cm; inv. Palatina 1912 no. 236): in both paintings we find the same attention paid to the rendering of tableware and copper utensils, and above all a similar composition, with a rustic kitchen interior opening onto a wooded landscape evoking the Veneto countryside. In both compositions, Bassano anchors the religious subject in a scene of rural life, contrasting a certain opulence in the domestic setting with the spiritual virtues taught by Christ.

By the 1570s, Bassano was already working in his studio in close collaboration with his four sons Leandro, Francesco, Giovanni da Ponte and Girolamo da Ponte: their canvases were sometimes signed by more than one hand, as is the case with the painting now considered to be the earliest version of our composition, which is signed by Jacopo and Francesco (Christie’s sale, London, 6 July 2010, lot 37). The only known version of the composition signed by Jacopo alone in fact seems to be also a replica largely completed by Leandro, his youngest son, not yet of an age to be eligible to sign his own name.

The large number of known replicas of The supper at Emmaus testifies to the influence and popularity of this composition from the time of its creation: examples include the paintings in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan (inv. Nap. 981) and in the Petit-Palais (inv. PPP2543). The present version also comes from Jacopo Bassano’s studio, which was initially taken over by his sons and continued to operate for several decades. It differs slightly from the first known version of The supper at Emmaus in that its framing is significantly wider, especially in the upper part which may have been extended; it is thus more closely comparable to the version in the Musée du Louvre (inv. 434).