This painting is part of the group: The Dal Pozzo Sacraments
On loan from the Duke of Rutland's Trustees, Belvoir Castle, Grantham, Lincolnshire, © The Duke of Rutland's Trustees, Belvoir Castle, Grantham, Lincs.
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The Eucharist is based on the Last Supper when, according to the Gospels, Christ shared bread and wine with his apostles. To locate the scene in the time of early Christianity, Poussin shows them reclining on an ancient Roman triclinium. The scene is lit by an overhanging lamp and a candle on a wooden chest in the foreground.
This is one of a series of paintings illustrating the sacraments painted for Poussin's Roman patron, Cassiano dal Pozzo.
Other paintings in this group: The Dal Pozzo Sacraments
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