A sixteenth-century hand-coloured woodcut by Doen Pietersz. depicting the Passover meal, featuring clear lines and traditional Northern Renaissance iconography.

This hand-coloured woodcut by the Dutch printer and publisher Doen Pietersz. depicts the biblical narrative of the Passover meal. The composition centres on Christ, who is positioned behind a table with his disciples. The figures are rendered with the characteristic directness of early sixteenth-century Northern European printmaking. The artist employs bold, clear lines to define the forms, while the application of colour adds a specific narrative clarity to the scene.

The scene follows traditional iconographic conventions for the period, showing the figures in contemporary dress rather than historical costume. This choice allowed the viewer to relate the biblical event to their own time. The brickwork background and the specific arrangement of the table suggest a domestic setting, grounding the spiritual event in a recognisable environment. The presence of the monogram at the base of the print confirms the attribution to Pietersz., who was active in Amsterdam during the early decades of the sixteenth century.

Technically, the work demonstrates the standard practices of the era, where woodcuts were produced for book illustration and then finished by hand with pigments. The palette is restrained, relying on primary and secondary colours to differentiate the figures and the architectural elements. The perspective is flattened, which is typical of woodblock prints of this time, prioritising the legibility of the narrative over spatial depth. This print serves as an example of the mass-produced religious imagery that circulated widely in the Netherlands during the Reformation period, providing visual aids for devotional reading and study.