Den store nadver 1901

Joakim Skovgaard's monumental painting, 'The Great Supper', is a vast fresco made without a specified date on the wall of a Danish museum, depicting a religious scene in monochromatic tones. I imagine Skovgaard standing on scaffolding, brush in hand, wrestling with the scale of the work, layering earth tones to build up this intricate scene. There's such a clear desire here, I think, to tell a story, to create a world that feels both solid and ethereal. This isn’t just a painting; it's a vision of a world where humans and God coexist. Thinking about this fresco, I feel a kinship with Skovgaard's ambition, his commitment to making something that resonates with deep feeling. It reminds me of Giotto, you know, how he tried to capture real human emotion, or maybe even the Symbolists, with their kind of dreamlike imagery. As painters, we're always in conversation with each other across time, riffing off each other’s ideas, pushing the boundaries of what paint can do, and how it can make us feel.