The Lord’s Supper

Painted in 1910, The Lord’s Supper was exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in the same year and at a show held at the Association of Friends of Fine Arts in Lviv two years later. Art critics of the time put in-depth interpretations on it, suggesting Gottlieb’s interest in Christian art of the Renaissance and the tempera technique. It also met with criticism – mostly from Jewish circles reproaching the artist for taking up “foreign” themes rather than following in the footsteps of his brother Maurycy. In fact, Maurycy Gottlieb had been known for his original idea to represent Christ as a universal figure – a reformer and mediator between the Christian and the Jewish world.

Contrary to what he was accused of, Leopold’s interpretation of one of the most common Christological iconographical motifs is also far from classical. Apart from the fact that the composition references, amongst others, Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper while the colour palette originates from Christian symbolism in which Christ is singled out by the colour red – the symbol of martyrdom, Gottlieb’s painting focuses on the mood of depicted characters and is hardly a religious picture. Its atmosphere is throughout oneiric – the closed eyes of the figures suggest that they are dreaming or, perhaps, worn out. There is a dog among them, an animal usually standing for destitution and homelessness in Gottlieb’s work. Seated in the middle, between two women, Christ succumbs to the melancholy that the whole scene is suffused with, especially that his halo, a feeble glow blending in with the background, is scarcely noticeable. The depiction is static and filled with pensiveness, which is highlighted by the deserted urban scape in the background.

Małgorzata Stolarska-Fronia