Analyse This: Caravaggio "Supper at Emmaus"

[dcorc]

Originally Posted by Ant Carlos

The star of the scene is not in the figure of the Christ, but in the reactions of the figures surrounding him.

That's a great observation - He's like the eye of the hurricane, serenity in the midst of upheaval.

Dave

[painterbear]

Hello all,

This is the first time I've visited one of these Classical Art threads, thanks to Artmom's recommendation. I have found your discussion of this wonderful painting to be most interesting and thought-provoking.

One design element I've noticed that no one has mentioned is how many triangles there are in this painting. I counted at least eight of them starting with the largest one that incloses the entire group of figures and the table. Could Caravaggio have been making an oblique reference to the Trinity of which Jesus was one point?


Sylvia

[chandlerjr]

Dave,
You mentioned the beard earlier? I have always been struck my the almost feminine look of Christ's face in this painting. It doesn't look exactly like a man, but doesn't look female either. I'm not suggesting this was the intent of
Caravaggio, but this has always struck me as a little odd.

None the less, this has been a very interesting thread, and I have always loved this painting.
Larry C.

[Termini.]

I think that this image is serves more than merely a decorative function.

I love this work, and most of Caravaggio's work. I have some thoughts regarding this image; just things that I have often bounced around in my mind. First off, the image of Christ without a beard is interesting to me. I know that when a man who has a beard, shaves it off, he can be unrecognizable at first. How many of us have had beards, or who have known people with beards, and have had the experience of seeing this person, or ourselves for that matter, without the beard. This aspect of this painting could serve to convey the lack of recognition that the disciples experienced, at first. I have also wondered if there was another more symbolic meaning to this. For example, Jewish men, during much of history, wore beards, more for religious than asthetic reasons. Could the lack of beard in this image, imply that Jesus is no longer available only to Jewish people, but that his presence has much broader ramifications for humanity. Perhaps I have over analyzed, but just some thoughts.

The disciple on the right appears to be reaching for Christ, and the lack of spacial reference, regarding the hand closest to Christ, coupled with the position of the body, conveys movement. The Other hand reaching out at the viewer, invites the viewer to come into the scenario.

The Disciple who is seated appears to have just recognized Christ, and is ready to jump up or even fall. The basket of fruit on the same side of the table, also apppears unstable, and contributes to the shock. It is ready to fall, and so is he? Irregardless of this, the basket creates an impression of temporariness (if that is a word), as no-one would leave a basket of fruit in that position for long. For example, a basket of fruit left that close to the edge of a table would not be there for long. Either someone would push the fruit into the middle of the table (in this case closer to Christ), or they would move to to another location, or it would get bumped and fall. Either way, in our world, a item such as this would only exist in a position such as this for only a temporary period of time. This could serve to emphasize that Christ would be present there, only for a temporary period of time.

Jim

[dcorc]

Thanks Jim - this is a great analysis! I'm very interested in your picking up on possible symbolic purposes for Christ's beardlessness.

Larry - Christ's face in this does seem to have that somewhat androgynous quality we see in several of Caravaggio's other works.

Sylvia - welcome! Triangles certainly do figure in the composition here - as to whether a "Trinity" symbolism is intended, I don't know, but it's certainly a point well worth pondering.

Just a thought - the shadow of the head of the standing figure, in it's shape above Christ's head, may perhaps rather subliminally suggest a halo, despite being dark?

Dave

[J. Eric]

I know everyone loves the size of the disciples hand on Jesus's shoulder....
And, why wouldn't the "Risen Christ" be beardless? .....a new creation!
BUT, as someone mentioned earlier...Carrivagio wants to elecite a emotional
response from us.
What I see is the disciple on the right trying to get Christ's full attention by
touching his shoulder....but as you notice he is jestering backwards.....to the
past....as on the road, telling Jesus again, of the events yesterday in
Jeruselum. Jesus seems bored...dismissive of their interest of yesterdays
events. Even Jesus's hand jesture shows his attempt at getting these
disciples to move on. He wants them to live in Him , through the Breaking
of the Bread. The disciple to the left is almost beside himself,coming out of his chair, shown by Jesus's lack of interest of yesterday events.
Christ is their future, he cares not of the past.....
And again, Carrivaggio inserts himself as the servant in the painting....
Love to hear some comments....
J.Eric

[Yellow Ogre]

Wikipedia - Depiction of Jesus:

In 2001, the television series Son of God used one of three first-century Jewish skulls from a leading department of forensic science in Israel to depict Jesus in a new way.[45] A face was constructed using forensic anthropology by Richard Neave, a retired medical artist from the Unit of Art in Medicine at the University of Manchester.[46] The face that Neave constructed suggested that Jesus would have had a broad face and large nose, and differed significantly from the traditional depictions of Jesus in renaissance art.[47] Additional information about Jesus's skin color and hair was provided by Mark Goodacre, a senior lecturer at the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham.[47] Using third-century images from a synagogue—the earliest pictures of Jewish people[48]—Goodacre proposed that Jesus's skin color would have been darker and swarthier than his traditional Western image. He also suggested that he would have had short, curly hair and a short cropped beard.[49] This is also confirmed in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, where Paul the Apostle states that it is "disgraceful" for a man to have long hair.[50] As Paul knew many of the disciples and members of Jesus's family, it is unlikely that he would have written such a thing had Jesus had long hair.[49] Although not literally the face of Jesus,[46] the result of the study determined that Jesus's skin would have been more olive-colored than white,[47] and that he would have looked like a typical Galilean Semite. Among the points made was that the Bible records that Jesus's disciple Judas had to point him out to those arresting him. The implied argument is that if Jesus's physical appearance had differed markedly from his disciples, then he would have been relatively easy to identify