Belgian artist creates ‘The Last Supper’, Covid style

A Belgian artist has recreated Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’, taking his inspiration from the events of 2020. The strikingly detailed illustration puts the apostles in hazmat suits and gasmasks and peppers the table and floor with iconic images of one of the strangest years in living memory.

Bert Dries of Ghent has placed the apostles in their original positions, with Jesus in the centre behind a pile of toilet paper. Jude is reaching into a box of take-away pizza, James the Greater is behind his laptop and Judas is clutching a paper cup of Starbucks coffee.

Poster with instructions on hand-washing hang on the walls instead of tapestries, and above them are security cameras sporting the Facebook logo. Behind is Donald Trump railing away on a TV screen. Hand gel, baking powder and Amazon boxes are scattered around. Among the clutter are two IV poles.

Dries is known for incorporating logos of major media and consumer corporations into his work, thereby commenting on the all-seeing eye of multinationals. This piece, he told Radio 2, “is a summary of everything that happened during the first lockdown, everything that we saw in the news. There are also references to pop culture because I’m a big fan.”

The illustration and close-ups of tiny details impossible to make out can be seen on Dries’s website. A skateboard manufacturer was especially taken with the illustration and is creating a limited edition run of skateboards decorated with it.

Image courtesy Bert Dries