Het bewijs der dingen die men niet ziet. Over Last Supper (a miracle happened) van Frans Franciscus

Abstract

Last Supper (a miracle happened) (1990) is a remarkable impression of a biblical event by the Dutch artist Frans Franciscus (pseudonym of Franciscus van de Vooren, born 1959, lives in Amsterdam). Obviously inspired by a picture of the Holy Supper by the Spaniard Juan de Juanes (1523-1579), Franciscus changes traditional iconography in a way that cannot be overlooked: he leaves out Christ and his disciples, and substitutes them by a chalice and twelve glasses. On the one hand, Last Supper is to be accounted for as a part of a series by Franciscus, named The invisible man. On the other hand Franciscus created a Holy Supper that stresses the joyful side of the event, whereas it is usually presented as an act of treachery and sacrifice. Seeming a trick with a blasphemous goal (considering the fact that Franciscus is not a religious person), Last Supper (a miracle happened) gives free rein to religious interpretation, and illustrates that, face to face with modern art, the spectator has the final word.