Journey to Emmaus
("Road to Emmaus"; "Walk to Emmaus") (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13–27)

One of the occasions on which Christ appeared to the disciples after his Resurrection, forming, as it were, a prologue to the much more frequently depicted Supper at Emmaus. Luke, alone, describes how two disciples, on their way from Jerusalem to the neighboring village of Emmaus, were met by Christ who walked with them. One was called Cleopas; the other was unnamed but was traditionally said to be the apostle Peter, and is sometimes thus depicted. They told the Savior, whom they failed to recognize, of the recent death and supposed resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, and were rebuked by him for their slowness in apprehending the teaching of the prophets in this matter. Christ is dressed as a pilgrim, with a wallet and staff, a hat hanging on his back, sometimes a water-gourd and wearing a goatskin garment. This guise is explained by Cleopas' words, "Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem?" which in the Vulgate is "Tu solus peregrinus es" Peregrinus in medieval usage meant not only "stranger" but "pilgrim". The common obligation to provide shelter and lodging for the medieval pilgrim led to the theme being represented in monasteries, where he would receive hospitality. The village of Emmaus is called in Latin castellum, a "castle", and is therefore sometimes depicted as a fortified town.