Caravaggista school, possibly Filippo Vitale (Naples, c. 1585-Naples, 1650); Italy, 17th century.

Caravaggista school, possibly FILIPPO VITALE (Naples, c. 1585-Naples, 1650); Italy, 17th century.
"Supper at the House of Emmaus."
Oil on canvas.
Preserves original canvas.
Presents restorations on the pictorial surface and patches on the back.
It has adapted frame of the XVII century.
Provenance: Private collection Naples, Private collection Rome and Granados Collection.
Measurements: 99,5 x 125 cm; 112,5 x 136,5 cm (frame).
Formerly this work had been attributed to the Maestro dell'Emmaus di Pau, although the technique and style bring it closer to the circle of the artist Filippo Vitale (Naples, 1585 - 1650), Italian Baroque painter known for being one of the first Neapolitan painters to join the current of caravaggismo. Vitale trained in the workshop of Carlo Sellitto, whose style greatly influenced his painting. Later introduced into the circle of Ribera, he remained faithful throughout his career to a realistic caravaggismo that, however, softened over time towards a certain classicism. Since 2008, critics have opened a debate on the identification of Filippo Vitale with the anonymous artist identified as the Master of the Supper at Emmaus due to the stylistic similarities found between the subject that gives the painter his name and Vitale's Departure from Jacob.
This painting depicts a scene narrated in the Gospel of Luke (24:13-35), in which the risen Christ appears to two of his disciples on the road to the village of Emmaus. They do not recognize him until, during supper, Christ breaks the bread, in a direct reference to the Eucharist. Both the meeting on the road and the supper episode have been widely represented in painting, although the second scene, depicted here, is more frequent. Since the Renaissance, it is preferred to represent Jesus eating with the disciples, and often the moment of recognition will be shown. In the 16th century we find important examples of the representation of this theme, such as Titian's painting of 1535, now in the Louvre. Here, however, the formal and compositional inspiration does not come from Italy but from the Flemish Renaissance. Thus, the scene is clearly delimited to the foreground, with the table worked in foreshortened position and occupied by various objects and food, worked with meticulousness and attention to detail. The background is closed by a dense darkness that helps to focus the view on the monumental protagonists among which the representation of Christ stands out, not only for its centrality in the composition but also for being the only character that has been portrayed facing the viewer.