The Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci, Mary Magdalene, The Hand and Knife

Leonardo da Vinci was already a well known artist when he created his masterpiece The Last
Supper. He painted it on the back wall of the dining hall at the Dominican convent of Sta Maria
delle Grazie in Italy. The reason the painting is laid out the way it is is that Leonardo was trying
to "extend the room", to make it look like Jesus and his apostles were sitting at the end of the
dining hall. This painting became an instant famous work, for many reasons.

The painting depicts the very moment that Jesus has said to his disciples:

Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?
And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray
me.
--Matthew 26

The disciples are all reacting in horror to the thought that someone at that table would betray
their master.

Fresco vs Tempera
Dan Brown's error in The Da Vinci Code is that he calls the Last Supper a FRESCO. This
painting is not a fresco. This is a critical mistake because if the painting had been a fresco, we
would still have a superb image to view and examine. It is *because* it is not a fresco that we
have all these questions now about what the painting is showing us. In fact, a main reason why
the Last Supper painting is so famous is because it is not a fresco - and therefore that it was in
essence destroyed immediately after being painted. It's important therefore to understand this
issue.
Normally, the way a painting like this would have been done would be a "fresco". That means
that the plaster is made wet, and then the painting is done on the wet plaster. When the plaster
dries, the paint is sort of intermingled with the plaster and it's nice and permanent. However, that
type of painting is limited in its colors and can't be retouched. When the plaster dries, you're
stuck.

Leonardo wanted to experiment with a new style he had invented - tempera (egg yolk and
vinegar) plus oil painting ON dry plaster. That way he could use more colors and redo portions if
necessary. The painting took him four years to complete - 1495 to 1498. His patrons were furious
at the delay but Leonardo refused to go any more quickly.

Unfortunately, Leonardo's style experiment was a disaster. The paint almost immediately began
falling off the plaster. The humidity was causing the paint to separate from the plaster on which
it had been painted. Whole pieces of paint fell off the wall. Over the years, the piece has been
vandalized and nearly fell apart completely.

A recent 20-year effort tried to stabilize the piece for future viewing. Art experts tried to re-
create what they thought the painting must have looked like originally. There is a lot of debate
about whether those experts really did "fix" the painting, or if they changed its meaning by
making changes in color and detail. There's no way to know, really, since the painting had fallen
apart so much over the years. Much of what we know about the way this painting was done and
the fact that it was NOT a fresco was learned during that repair process. I agree that some
websites still claim the painting is a fresco. They are mistaken. You can't trust everything you
read on the web :)

The Scene and Design

Leonardo da Vinci was working based on the few known documents which describe this meal.
As all artists do, he was trying to convey an impression and message, and took "artistic license"
with his source material. Just as artists will often rearrange a scene in order to better convey what
they are trying to have the viewer feel and think about, so did Leonardo da Vinci rearrange what
was *said* about this important event, in order to convey his own thoughts and feelings on the
subject. I list a lot of his changes below.

Part of why Leonardo's version was so famous immediately was that he had chosen a very
unusual way to portray the scene. Pretty much every painting of the Last Supper up until now
had involved Jesus blessing the bread and wine - a nice, serene scene. Judas was always shown
off in a corner, sulking, away from the rest of the disciples. This is what the Dominicans thought
they were getting. When they instead got this "violent" version with the disciples all screaming
and yelling, the monks were not exactly pleased. It created a lot of publicity.
Some people are intrigued by the three "lunettes" over the painting, not seen in most copies of
the painting's image. These are tributes to Leonardo's patron duke. They are in fact the Sforza
coat of arms. Leonardo's patron duke was Duke Lodovico Sforza

So the center spot is the arms of the Duke plus his wife Beatrice d'Este. To the left is that of
Massimiliano, the first born son. On the right side is Francesco, the second son.

Latin Saying
Some versions of the painting have Latin words beneath it -

Latin Vulgate
26:21 et edentibus illis dixit amen dico vobis quia unus vestrum me traditurus est

King James Version

26:21 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

So it is simply quoting the passage of the Bible that Leonardo was depicting.

If you're curious, the top version of the Last Supper shown on this page was the pre-restoration
version, while the second version is the one after restoration.

I have found a site with a High Resolution Image of the Last Supper - take a look!

New Da Vinci Code Discussion Forum Posts

A hidden baby image in Judas‘ neck??
A lot of interesting work has been done here
The Louvre's Glass Pyramid
Leonardo's Painting - A Fatal Flaw ??
'Weird & Wonderful' Books.
Introduction
Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, The Last Supper
Why Criticize The Da Vinci Code?
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The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci

Last Supper Painting
Records of the Last Supper
Passover and Food
Layout, Table and Chairs
Daytime and Lighting
The Chalice and Cups
The Hand and Knife
Jesus' Skin Color
Thomas Pointing Up
Names of the Apostles in the Painting

Leonardo Da Vinci and His Paintings

History Channel Special on Leonardo
Biography of Leonardo Da Vinci
The Paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci
Madonna of the Rocks Painting
Mona Lisa Painting
Was Leonardo Da Vinci Gay?

Mary Magdalene and John

Mary Magdalene
Was Jesus Married?
Jesus and Celibacy
Was Jesus Announcing Mary's Status?
The Gospel of Mary
Mary M and Mary Virgin's Graves
The Missing Apostle in the Last Supper
John the Youngest Disciple

The Bible / Religion

Da Vinci Code and Religion
The Canonization of the Bible
Constantine the Great and the Bible
The Gnostic Gospels
Gnostic vs Agnostic
Women in the Church
The Council of Nicaea
YHWH - Hebrew Tetragrammaton
Holy Day - Saturday or Sunday
Eve and the Apple
Jesus and his Birth
Pentagram and Star of David
Hindu and Buddha
The Bible - Literal or Parable
Creationism vs Intelligent Design
Creationism vs Evolution
The Ten Commandments
Hell and Purgatory
Halloween Traditions