JUANES, Juan de
(b. ca. 1523, Fuente de la Higuera, d. 1579, Bocairente)

The Last Supper

c. 1560
Oil on panel
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Juanes was especially adept at creating inspiring devotional images of Christ, the most famous of which represents the Saviour holding the Eucharistic wafer. The figure is excerpted from the artist's celebrated composition, the last Supper, itself an obvious paraphrase of Leonardo's masterpiece, a copy of which was at that time in the Cathedral of Valencia. As shown by the countless repetitions of the compositions, some made even in the 20th century, this image of the Saviour successfully provided inspiration and consolation to legions of the faithful.