LORENZETTI, Pietro
(b. ca. 1280, Siena, d. 1348, Siena)

Last Supper

c. 1320
Fresco
Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi

The picture shows one of the scenes from the life of Christ painted by Pietro Lorenzetti on the vault of the south arm of the western transept of the Lower Church. The scene reflects the influence of French Gothic illuminated manuscripts.

The hexagonal pavilion recalls Nicola Pisano's pulpit in Siena Cathedral. The blue night sky is spangled with golden stars and a crescent moon. In the Capture of Christ scene the moon will sink, as meteor showers rain down on Gethsemane.

On the left side, there is an unprecedented genre scene: fireplace, shelf and wooden beams are each compellingly realized. One complex line of interpretation has centred around the kneeling servant, who may be using a tallith (a Jewish prayer shawl) to wipe away the Old Law. The same tallith recurs in Pietro's Birth of Mary.