<I>The Last Supper</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1982; digitally re-created 2021
name: label: Created by
content: Akili Ron Anderson, American, born 1946
label: Produced by
content: Joseph Aaron Campbell, American
notes: label: Caption
content: In 1982, under the leadership of Pastor James Gilchrist, New Home Baptist Church commissioned local artist Akili Ron Anderson to create a depiction of Jesus’s last meal, The Last Supper. Anderson’s interpretation, which features a Black Messiah and disciples inspired by members of the community, disrupts the traditional view of the famous scene, which is almost always presented within a white framework. In opposition to this previous marginalization, the use of Black figures within the scene centers the Black experience within the biblical narrative and invited members of the New Home Baptist community to envision themselves amidst this divine and sacred context. The large mural, which was affixed behind the pulpit, served as a focal point within the sanctuary of the church building at 3423 Holmead Place in Washington, DC.
label: Caption
content: When New Home Baptist Church moved it’s growing congregation to Maryland, the mural stayed in the Holmead Place building and at some point was placed behind a drywall. It was rediscovered during building renovations conducted by the Studio Acting Conservatory (SAC) in 2019. Later that year, a team from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) reviewed the mural in hopes of dismantling and transporting the sculpture to NMAAHC’s off-site storage for acquisition into the Museum’s collection. However, due to the difficulty in removing the artwork and an inability to display and permanently store the work at the Museum, it was decided that the mural would remain in SAC’s possession. The Museum completed restoration of the sculpture, documenting the process, and creating this digital 3d model for the Museum’s collection.
label: Caption
content: Akili Ron Anderson is a native of Washington, DC. He is a graduate of The Corcoran School of Art (1964-1965) and Howard University (1965-1969), where he obtained both his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts. He is the co-founder of the NationHouse Organization, an Afrikan centered school found in Washington, DC, and an influential member of the AfriCOBRA artist collective. The Last Supper altarpiece continues to build upon the legacy of the AfriCOBRA and Black Arts Movement by tackling ideals of representation and altering traditional biblical narratives through a Black perspective.
label: Description
content: A digital three-dimensional (3-D) model of a 1982 sculpture by Akili Ron Anderson entitled The Last Supper. There are a total of fourteen (14) individual digital files comprising four renditions of the model: master, render, web, and dense point cloud.
label: Description
content: The sculpture is a bas-relief wall mural composed of "Structolite" plaster, lumber and plywood on a metal mesh armature. The sculpture depicts the scene of the Last Supper featuring a Black Messiah figure seated at the center of a round table, flanked by six (6) disciples to his left and six (6) disciples to his right. The table and figures are depicted in brown and bronze tones against a dark blue background. The hands of Christ are on top of the table, holding the elements of the Eucharist: a chalice of wine in his proper right hand and bread in his proper left. There is a halo effect in the plaster around his head. The disciples are only visible from the waist up, except for the two on each end, whose full profiles are visible.
place: label: Place used
content: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
title: label: Title
content: 3D model of The Last Supper sculpture by Akili Ron Anderson
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Christianity
label: Topic
content: Local and regional
label: Topic
content: Ornamentation
label: Topic
content: Religion
label: Topic
content: The Black Church
label: Topic
content: Worship services
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
label: Classification
content: Sacred and Ceremonial Objects
label: Movement
content: BAM (Black Arts Movement 1965-1976)
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2021.73.1
objectType: label: Type
content: sculpture
label: Type
content: digital media - born digital
label: Type
content: 3D models
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Original artwork © Akili Ron Anderson
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: digital
label: Dimensions
content: File size (total): 48.83 GB
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (original sculpture): 138 × 270 × 24 in. (350.5 × 685.8 × 61 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: Geometry (3D dense point cloud): 1.6B points
label: Dimensions
content: Geometry (3D master): 6.9M triangles, 3.5M vertices
label: Dimensions
content: Geometry (3D render): 999K triangles, 504K vertices
label: Dimensions
content: Geometry (3D web): 200K triangles, 104K vertices