The Road to Emmaus appearance refers to one of the early resurrection appearance of Jesus after his crucifixion and the discovery of the empty tomb.[1][2] The Supper at Emmaus has been a popular artistic theme for depicting the supper Jesus had with two disciples after the encounter on the road.
Biblical accounts
editThe Gospel of Luke 24:13–32 describes the encounter on the road and the supper, and states that while a disciple named Cleopas was walking towards Emmaus with another disciple, they met Jesus. They did not recognise him, and discussed their sadness at recent events with him. They pursuaded him to come and eat with them, and in the course of the meal they recognise him.
The Gospel of Mark 16:12–13 has a somewhat similar episode that describes the appearance of Jesus to two disciples while they were walking in the country, at about the same time in the Gospel narrative.[3] although it does not name the disciples or the destination as Emmaus:
Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.[4]
The Gospel of Luke states that Jesus stayed and had supper with the two disciples, after the encounter on the road:
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. [5]
The detailed narration of this episode is at times considered one of the best sketches of a biblical scene in the Gospel of Luke.[6] In this account, when Jesus appeared to Cleopas and one other disciple at first "their eyes were holden" so that they could not recognize him. Later "in the breaking of bread" "their eyes were opened" and they recognized him. B. P. Robinson argues that this means the recognition occurred in the course of the meal,[7] but Raymond Blacketer notes that "Many, perhaps even most, commentators, ancient and modern and in-between, have seen the revelation of Jesus' identity in the breaking of bread as having some kind of eucharistic referent or implication."[8]
Artistic renditions
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Both the encounter on the road, and the ensuing supper have been depicted in art, but the supper has received more attention. Medieval art tends to show a moment before Jesus is recognised; Christ wears a large floppy hat to help explain the initial lack of recognition by the disciples. This is either a large pilgrim's hat and badges or a Jewish hat. However, the depiction of the next part of the episode, the supper at Emmaus, which shows Jesus eating with the disciples, has been a more popular theme, at least since the Renaissance. Often the moment of recognition is shown.
Rembrandt's 1648 depiction of the Supper, at the Louvre builds on the earlier etching he did six years earlier, in which the disciple on the left had risen, hands clasped in prayer. In both depictions the disciples are startled, and are in awe, but not in fear. The servant is oblivious to the theophanic moment taking place during the supper.[9]
Both Caravaggio's painting in London and his painting in Milan (which were six years apart) imitate natural color very well, but fail in decorum. Caravaggio depicted Jesus without a beard and the London painting shows fruits on the table that are out of season. Moreover, the inn keeper is shown serving with a hat.[10]
Some other artists who have portrayed the Supper are Jacopo Bassano, Pontormo, Vittore Carpaccio, Philippe de Champaigne, Albrecht Dürer, Benedetto Gennari,Jacob Jordaens, Marco Marziale, Pedro Orrente, Tintoretto, Titian, Velázquez and Paolo Veronese. The supper was also the subject of one of his most successful Vermeer forgeries by Han van Meegeren.
In literary art, the Emmaus theme is realized as early as in the 12th century by the Durham poet Laurentius in a semidramatic Latin poem.[11]
Gallery of art
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Oratory in Novara, 15th century -
Joseph von Führich, 1837 -
Robert Zünd, 1877 -
Mosaic in Berlin -
Supper at Emmaus, 15th century -
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Caravaggio, 1601, London -
Caravaggio, 1606, Milan -
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Laurent de La Hyre, 1656 -
Diego Velázquez, 1620, New York
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Luke by Fred B. Craddock 1991 ISBN 0804231230 page 284
- ^ Exploring the Gospel of Luke: an expository commentary by John Phillips 2005 ISBN 0825433770 pages 297-230
- ^ Catholic Comparative New Testament by Oxford University Press 2006 ISBN 019528299X page 589
- ^ Bible gateway
- ^ Bible gateway
- ^ Luke for Everyone by Tom Wright, 2004 ISBN 0664227848 page 292
- ^ B. P. Robinson, "The Place of the Emmaus Story in Luke-Acts," NTS 30 [1984], 484.
- ^ Raymond A. Blacketer, "Word and Sacrament on the Road to Emmaus: Homiletical Reflections on Luke 24:13-35," CTJ 38 [2003], 323.
- ^ The Biblical Rembrandt by John I. Durham 2004 ISBN 0865548862 page 144
- ^ Art, creativity, and the sacred: an anthology in religion and art by Diane Apostolos-Cappadona 1995 ISBN 082640829X page 64
- ^ Udo Kindermann, ‘Das Emmausgedicht des Laurentius von Durham’, in: Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 5 (1968), S. 79-100.