On Jesus’ Last Supper Many attempts have been made to reconstruct Jesus’ last days, beyond the scattered details provided by the canonical Gospels and some other sources. The main problems concern the Last Supper and the Passion narrative: firstly, there is a calendar discrepancy, since according to John the Friday of Jesus’ crucifixion fell on the eve of Passover (Nisan 14), but for the Synoptics it fell on the day of Passover (Nisan 15) ; secondly, the main features of the Jewish Passover meal are the lamb, the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs, but the Eucharistic rite described in the Synoptics, although embedded in a Passover meal, focuses on bread and wine and the early Church never used unleavened bread for the weekly rite; thirdly, Jesus’ trial before a powerless Jewish council (synedrion, ¥ Matt 26,59) on the night of a feast seems quite awkward. Looking beyond the NT we may add a fourth difficulty: at some point, the Greek speaking Church transferred the name “Passover” (pasxa) to¥ a yearly commemoration of Jesus’ Resurrection, celebrated on a specific Sunday, while the Sunday on which the weekly rite was held used to be called “The Lord’s Day” (dies dominica) and obviously had nothing to do with the annual Jewish Passover. As suggested by the description of these problems, the present essay aims to approach the last supper story as the key topic, by focusing on two sets of data: the ritual institutions, with some relevant Jewish background, and the testimonies of early Christian writers 1. It will be showed that tradition has reworked facts to expand their significance, especially in the Synoptics. The written products could be termed “literary icons”. I. An Old Problem The Gospels state that Jesus’ last supper occurred on a Thursday evening after sunset, and that the crucifixion took place This approach differs from the method of F. BOVON, The Last Days of 1 Jesus (Louisville, KY – London: 2006).