The Last Supper®
1999
series of 13 prints
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through the NGV Foundation with the assistance of Andrea Ziegler, Governor, 2002
- Gallery location
- Not on display
About this work
Damien Hirst has long been fascinated by contemporary society’s belief in the power of pharmaceutical drugs. This interest has informed his medicine-cabinet sculptures, pharmacy installations and pharmaceutical-titled spot paintings. The Last Supper® series comprises thirteen enormous screenprints of medicine packets, in which everyday British foods are presented as drug brand names for pharmaceuticals used to treat life-threatening conditions. The series’ title also references the Last Supper, at which Christ offered his twelve disciples eternal salvation through the sacrament of his body and blood in the form of consecrated bread and wine. Hirst’s series satirises contemporary society’s morbid embrace of medical science as the new secular creed replacing religion.
Artwork Details
Purchased through the NGV Foundation with the assistance of Andrea Ziegler, Governor, 2002