The Communion of the Apostles

Luca Giordano (Italian (Neapolitan), 1634–1705)

Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas

Dimensions188 x 305.1 cm (74 x 120 1/8 in.)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Louis Thies

Accession number82.112

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsPaintings

Collections

Europe

Description

Giordano was known for the speed with which he executed large-scale paintings. Giordano's strength in conveying dramatic action is displayed here, as Christ is shown sharing the Passover meal with his twelve disciples. Distributing the bread and wine, he asks them to remember him by reenacting this meal, thus instituting the sacrament of Holy Communion.

ProvenanceAbout 1846/1847, sold in Dresden from the collection of a Bohemian baron (possibly Franz von Sternberg-Manderscheid, b. 1763 - d. 1830, Prague) to Clara Crowninshield (Mrs. Louis) Thies (b. 1811 - d. 1907), Cambridge, MA and Dresden, Germany [see note]; 1882, gift of Mrs. Louis Thies to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 19, 1882)

NOTE: On December 2, 1881, Mrs. Thies wrote from Dresden about the painting: "It belonged to the Private Gallery of a Bohemian Baron -- shortly before the outbreak of the revolution of '48 the young baron wished to convert the pictures he had inherited from his father into money and he had them sent to Dresden to be offered for sale. I obtained them through the assistance of an art critic and friend." The collection of Franz von Sternberg-Manderscheid was dispersed in a series of sales in Dresden between 1840 and 1847, and this may well be the collection in question.

The painting was brought to the United States and exhibited at the Albany Gallery of the Fine Arts (Fifth Exhibition, 1850), cat. no. 54, lent under the name of J. M. D. McIntyre.