Supper at Emmaus

In domesticity, holiness can appear. The sublime enters daily life and interrupts routine, and we may not recognise it without being told. Such is the story of the resurrected Jesus appearing in the town of Emmaus that the great Renaissance master Caravaggio depicts here. Two disciples, Luke and Cleophas, and an innkeeper are having dinner when Christ appears in a different form, here represented as without his beard, and joins them. They do not recognise him at first, and it is only when he has broken bread to they realise that they are in the presence of their teacher and the Son of God, risen from the dead. Just as soon as they do, he vanishes before their eyes and is not seen again. Caravaggio paints this moment of realisation, the two men in awe while the innkeeper looks on, seemingly oblivious to their moment of clarity. The painting does not emphasise holiness, Christ’s glory is unexalted, he is but a man, though more delicate and pure than the rugged disciples either side of him. This is the height of Jesus’ humanity, so at one with the mortal that he is able to join them for dinner as an equal and Caravaggio urges us not to ignore where the glory of god may appear in our daily, domestic lives.