EASTER AT EMMAUS: ‘The Supper at Emmaus’ by Vittore Carpaccio (1513)
Easter indeed is a time of hope and new beginnings! Yet 2000 years ago on the Sunday of Easter the disciples were anything but full of hope. Their eyes still sank in the pale shadows of the brutal passion, their minds in painful vexation of the terrorising events. The songs of freedom of the Passover were transformed into mourns of fear and apprehension. In the midst of this turmoil two of the disciples, Cleophas and his companion, flee from Jerusalem. They set out to cover a distance of seven miles to reach the tranquil village of Emmaus. But their destination soon loses its beauty to the journey they commenced.
As the disciples traversed along the dusty path a set of footprints accompanied them. Jesus, unnamed, unrecognised joins their company and stirs their soul. He sets their hearts on fire through the scriptures. Marvellously, the road to escape now turns into a therapeutic road to hope.
As dusk falls, the kind and hospitable disciples urge the unknown, unnamed stranger to stay with them. Tired and hungry, they gather around the table to dine. It is then that the stranger does something significant. The guest at the table turns into the host. He takes the bread, blesses and breaks it. Then he gives it to the now astounded disciples.
It was a moment of revelation and awe and Vittore Carpaccio, an Italian painter of the Venetian school of art, captures this moment through his austere painting ‘The Super at Emmaus.’
Christ here, solemn and stoic, sits in the company of four men. The ones at the outer edges of the table can easily be recognised as the disciples. Cleophas, elderly and bearded, holds his hand to his heart as he digests the truth of the Resurrection. They no longer needed a sign, the greatest sign was in their midst. Christ actions, simple yet symbolic, at once resounded the scene of the Last Supper.