GEMÄLDE ALTER MEISTER 20. SEPTEMBER 2024

3020* MATTHIAS STOMER (Amersfoort circa 1600–after 1650 Sicily) The Supper at Emmaus. Circa 1640. Oil on canvas. 126 × 229 cm. Certificates: - Maurizio Marini. - Gert Jan Van der Sman, 23.12.2020. Provenance: - Private collection, 1951. - Private collection, 1953–1990. - With Galerie Bruno Meissner, Zurich, 1991. - Acquired from the above gallery, private collection, Switzerland. Exhibited: - Maastricht 1991, TEFAF, Galerie Meissner, 9.–17.3.1991. - Lucerne 1994, Gemälde Alter und Moderner Meister, Galerie Fi- scher Lucerne, 27.8–17.9.1994, no. 6. Literature: - Domien Roggen: Werk van M. Stomer en Th. Rombouts, in: Gent- se Bijdragen tot de Kunstgeschiedenis, XIII, 1951, pp. 270 and 273. - Henri Pauwels: De Schilder Matthias Stomer, in: Gentse Bijdra- gen tot de Kunstgeschiedenis, XIV, 1953, pp. 153, 186, fig. 3, p. 151. - Benedict Nicolson: Stomer Brought Up-to-date, in: The Burling- ton Magazine, vol. 119, no. 889, Special Issue in Honour of Be- nedict Nicolson, April 1977, p. 241, no. 54 (as ‘Christ at Emmaus (Christ in the center)’). - Matthiesen Gallery: Around 1610. The Onset of the Baroque, London-Leicester, 1985, pp. 107–110. - Leonard J. Slatkes: Die Berufung des Matthäus, in: Holländische Malerei in neuem Licht. Hendrick ter Brugghen und seine Zeitge- nossen, exh.cat. Braunschweig, 1986, pp. 334–336, under no. 75. - Maria Teresa Penta: Un’ opra di Matthias Stomer a Napoli, in: Sto- ria dell’arte, 69, 1990, p. 254, footnote 5. - Benedict Nicolson: Caravaggism in Europe, second edition, re- vised and enlarged by Luisa Vertova (3 vols.), Turin 1990, vol. 1, p. 184. - Exh. cat., Gemälde Alter und Moderner Meister, ed. by Galerie Fischer Lucerne, Lucerne 1994, no. 6 (with ill.). - Maurizio Marini: L’ultimo caravaggesco. Tre ‘cene in Emmaus’ inedite dell’olandese Matthias Stomer, tardo seguace del maes- tro e del naturalismo ‘a luce di candela’, in: Quadri & sculture, 5, 1997, 27, p. 43, ill. p. 41. - Gert Jan van der Sman: Naples and Southern Italy: Late Cara- vaggio and his Followers, in: G.J. van der Sman (ed.): Caravaggio and the Painters of the North, exh.cat. Madrid, Museo Thyssen- Bornemisza, 2016, p. 179, fig. 55 (also on p. 196 footnote 1, men- tioned in cat.no. 53; article by Giuseppe Porzio). The present work by the Caravaggist Matthias Stomer is notab- le for the grandiosity of its composition, combined with outstan- ding painterly execution, revealing the full extent of Stomer's ar- tistic skill. The emphatic gestures, the expressive faces with their wrinkled, leathery skin and the close proximity of the figures, trans- form this monumental painting into a vivid representation of the biblical episode of the Supper at Emmaus, in which the moment of surprise is given prominence. The Supper at Emmaus is one of the most important subjects em- ployed during the Catholic Counter-Reformation, which, fuelled by the Council of Trent, introduced a new religious policy and affir- med the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Stomer adheres closely to the text of the Gospel of St Luke (Luke 24:30-31), which tells how two disciples encountered Christ on their way to Em- maus, a village near Jerusalem, but did not immediately recognise him. When they reached Emmaus, they urged him to stay and eat with them. During the supper, Christ took the bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to distribute it. It was only then that the discip- les' eyes were opened, and they understood that he was the Risen Christ. Abb. 1 Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, The Supper at Emmaus, Öl und Tempera auf Leinwand, 141 × 196,2 cm. © National Gallery London. Presented by the Hon. George Vernon, 1839. 3020 (Detail) 40