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Henry Fuseli, 1741–1825, Swiss, active in Britain (1766–70; 1779 on), Christ Disappearing at Emmaus, 1792
- Title:
Christ Disappearing at Emmaus [1792, Royal Academy of Arts, London, exhibition catalogue]
- Former Title(s):
Christ appearing in Cleophas and his travelling companions at Emmaus
- Date:
- 1792
- Medium:
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions:
- 56 1/2 x 46 1/2 inches (143.5 x 118.1 cm)
- Credit Line:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Copyright Status:
- Public Domain
- Accession Number:
- B1981.25.290
- Classification:
- Paintings
- Collection:
- Paintings and Sculpture
- Link to Frame:
- B1981.25.290FR
- Subject Terms:
- apostles | appearances of Christ after the Resurrection | Christ vanishes ~ supper at Emmaus | men | New Testament | religious and mythological subject | table
- Associated Places:
- Ad Daffah al Gharbiyah | Emmaus | Israel
- Associated People:
- Cleopas
Jesus Christ (7–2 BC/BCE to 30–36 AD/CE)
Luke the Evangelist - Access:
- Not on view
Note: To make an appointment to see this work, please contact the Paintings and Sculpture department at ycba.paintings@yale.edu. Please visit the Paintings and Sculpture collections page on our website for more details. - Link:
- https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:785
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According to the Gospel of St. Luke, Jesus walked the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus with two of his disciples on the day of his resurrection. Despondent at his recent death, they did not recognize the resurrected Jesus until later that evening when he broke bread with them at the table, and they recalled him saying: “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry.” Jesus then disappeared from their sight. Although the “Supper at Emmaus” had long been a traditional subject for artists, Henry Fuseli’s painting is unusual in its treatment of the biblical story, as it shows Christ in the act of disappearing once he revealed himself to his disciples. While earlier paintings focus on the meal and the joyous moment of Christ’s revelation, the disciples in Fuseli’s painting are seemingly bereft, in darkness and in despair, as Christ vanishes from their presence. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
Fuseli - Drama and Theatre (Kunstmuseum Basel, 2018-10-20 - 2019-02-10) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
Malcolm Cormack, Concise Catalogue of Paintings in the Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1985, pp. 96-97, N590.2 A83 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Catherine M. Gordon, British paintings Hogarth to Turner, Frederick Warne, London, 1981, p. 19, ND466 G67 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Gert Schiff, L'Opera Completa di Fussli, Rizzoli, Milan, 1977, p. 94, no. 94, NJ18 F98 A12 S34 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]
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