In gazing upon Tristán’s Last Supper with the eyes of the body, the eyes of the heart receive an invitation to limitless communion with the Lord who has made himself present to humanity in the humility of the Eucharistic matter. Yet the image itself poses a question to the viewer’s hear: What do you wan to see? Two sets of eyes gaze out at the viewer from within the image’s action.
On the painting’s left, we see Judas, whose shadowed eyes look away from the table, blurrily struggling to spy out a future where his purse of silver would be worth its price.
On the right, we see Tristán himself robed as one of the twelve apostles, gazing out at the viewer with clear, bold, questioning eyes, to ask if we want to see as he has learned to see.
The Eucharist present in Tristán’s painting does not impose itself on the viewer, any more than Tristán’s Eucharistic view of reality does. Jesus’ action at the Last Supper, as at the Mass, does not compel the heart to believe. It is possible to look at the Bread of Heaven and see a mere loaf, and to see cut fruits, meat and wine as nothing more than food for the stomach.
But this is not the only way to see. This table is an altar and this bread is God. The world is ablaze with heaven’s own opulence. Let those who have eyes to see, see.
-Father Gabriel Torretta, O.P.
