Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie.
In one of the quiet corners of Milan, lost in the lace of narrow streets, stands the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie. Next to it, in an inconspicuous refectory building, a masterpiece of masterpieces - the fresco "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci - has been living and amazing people for more than 500 years.
The composition of “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned by Duke Lodovico Moro, who ruled Milan. From his youth, moving in a circle of cheerful bacchantes, the Duke became so corrupted that even a young innocent creature in the form of a quiet and bright wife was unable to destroy his destructive inclinations. But, although the Duke sometimes spent, as before, whole days in the company of friends, he felt sincere affection for his wife and simply revered Beatrice, seeing in her his guardian angel.
When she died suddenly, Lodovico Moro felt lonely and abandoned. In despair, having broken his sword, he did not even want to look at the children and, moving away from his friends, languished alone for fifteen days. Then, calling on Leonardo da Vinci, who was no less saddened by this death, the Duke rushed into his arms. Under the impression of the sad event, Leonardo conceived his most famous work - “The Last Supper”. Subsequently, the Milanese ruler became a pious man and put an end to all holidays and entertainment, which constantly distracted the great Leonardo from his studies.
Monastery refectory with fresco by Leonardo da Vinci, after restoration
last supper 
For his fresco on the wall of the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie, da Vinci chose the moment when Christ says to his disciples: “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
These words precede the culmination of feelings, highest point the intensity of human relations, tragedy. But the tragedy is not only of the Savior, it is also the tragedy of Himself High Renaissance, when faith in cloudless harmony began to crumble and life seemed not so serene.
Leonardo's fresco is filled not only with biblical characters, they are also giants of the Renaissance - free and beautiful. But now they are confused...
“One of you will betray me...” - and the icy breath of inevitable fate touched each of the apostles. After these words, the most different feelings: some were amazed, others were outraged, others were saddened. Young Philip, ready for self-sacrifice, bowed to Christ, Jacob threw up his hands in tragic bewilderment, was about to rush at the traitor, Peter grabbed a knife, Judas’s right hand clutched a purse with fatal pieces of silver...
For the first time in painting, the most complex range of feelings found such a deep and subtle reflection.
Everything in this fresco is done with amazing truth and care, even the folds on the tablecloth covering the table look real.
In Leonardo, just like in Giotto, all the figures in the composition are located on the same line - facing the viewer. Christ is depicted without a halo, the apostles without their attributes, which were characteristic of them in ancient paintings. They express their emotional anxiety through their facial expressions and movements.
“The Last Supper” is one of Leonardo’s great creations, whose fate turned out to be very tragic. Anyone who has seen this fresco in our days experiences a feeling of indescribable grief at the sight of the terrible losses that inexorable time and human barbarity have inflicted on the masterpiece. Meanwhile, how much time, how much inspired work and the most ardent love Leonardo da Vinci invested in the creation of his work!
They say that he could often be seen, suddenly abandoning everything he was doing, running in the middle of the day in the most intense heat to St. Mary's Church to draw a single line or correct the outline in the Last Supper. He was so passionate about his work that he wrote incessantly, sat at it from morning to evening, forgetting about food and drink.
It happened, however, that for several days he did not take up his brush at all, but even on such days he remained in the refectory for two or three hours, indulging in thought and examining the figures already painted. All this greatly irritated the prior of the Dominican monastery, to whom (as Vasari writes) “it seemed strange that Leonardo stood immersed in thought and contemplation for a good half of the day. He wanted the artist not to let go of his brushes, just as one does not stop working in the garden. The abbot complained to the duke himself, but he, after listening to Leonardo, said that the artist was right a thousand times over. As Leonardo explained to him, the artist first creates in his mind and imagination, and then captures his inner creativity with a brush.”
Leonardo carefully chose models for the images of the apostles. He went every day to those quarters of Milan where the lower strata of society and even criminal people lived. There he was looking for a model for the face of Judas, whom he considered the greatest scoundrel in the world.
Indeed, at that time Leonardo da Vinci could be found in the most various parts cities. In taverns he sat down at the table with the poor and told them different stories- sometimes funny, sometimes sad and sad, and sometimes scary. And he carefully looked at the faces of the listeners when they laughed or cried. Noticing some interesting expression on their faces, he immediately quickly sketched it.
The artist did not pay attention to the annoying monk, who shouted, raged and complained to the duke. However, when the abbot of the monastery began to bother Leonardo again, he declared that if he did not find anything better for the head of Judas, and “they would rush him, then he would use the head of this so intrusive and immodest abbot as a model.”
The entire composition of “The Last Supper” is permeated with the movement that the words of Christ gave rise to. On the wall, as if overcoming it, the ancient gospel tragedy unfolds before the viewer.
The traitor Judas sits with the other apostles, while the old masters depicted him sitting separately. But Leonardo da Vinci brought out his gloomy isolation much more convincingly, shrouding his features in shadow.
Jesus Christ is the center of the entire composition, of all the whirlpool of passions that rage around him. Leonardo's Christ is an ideal human beauty, nothing betrays a deity in him. His inexpressibly tender face breathes deep sorrow, he is great and touching, but he remains human. In the same way, fear, surprise, horror, vividly depicted by gestures, movements, and facial expressions of the apostles, do not exceed ordinary human feelings.
This gave the French researcher Charles Clément reason to wonder: “By perfectly expressing true feelings, did Leonardo give his creation all the power that such a plot requires? Da Vinci was by no means a Christian or a religious artist; religious thought does not appear in any of his works. No confirmation of this was found in his notes, where he consistently wrote down all his thoughts, even the most secret ones.
What the amazed spectators saw when, in the winter of 1497, they, following the Duke and his magnificent retinue, filled the simple and austere refectory, was indeed completely unlike previous paintings of this kind. The “paintings” on the narrow wall opposite the entrance seemed as if they weren’t there at all. A small elevation was visible, and above it a ceiling with transverse beams and walls, forming (according to Leonardo’s plan) a picturesque continuation of the real space of the refectory. On this elevation, closed by three windows overlooking the mountain landscape, a table was depicted - exactly the same as the other tables in the monastic refectory. This table is covered with the same tablecloth with a simple woven pattern that covers the tables of other monks. There are the same dishes on it as on the other tables.
Christ and the twelve apostles sit on this elevation, closing the tables of the monks with a quadrangle, and, as it were, celebrate their supper with them.
Thus, when the monks sitting at the meat table could be more easily carried away by worldly temptations, they had to show for eternal teaching that a traitor could invisibly creep into everyone’s heart and that the Savior cares for every lost sheep. The monks had to see this lesson on the wall every day so that the great teaching would penetrate deeper into their souls than prayers.
From the center - Jesus Christ - the movement spreads across the figures of the apostles in breadth, until, in its utmost tension, it rests on the edges of the refectory. And then our gaze again rushes to the lonely figure of the Savior. His head is illuminated as if by the natural light of the refectory. Light and shadow, dissolving each other in an elusive movement, gave the face of Christ a special spirituality.
But when creating his “Last Supper,” Leonardo could not draw the face of Jesus Christ. He carefully painted the faces of all the apostles, the landscape outside the refectory window, and the dishes on the table. After much searching, I wrote Jude. But the face of the Savior remained the only one unfinished on this fresco.
It would seem that “The Last Supper” should have been carefully preserved, but in reality everything turned out differently. The great da Vinci himself is partly to blame for this. When creating the fresco, Leonardo used a new (he himself invented) method of priming the wall and new line-up paints This allowed him to work slowly, intermittently, making frequent changes to already written parts of the work. The result at first turned out to be excellent, but after a few years, traces of incipient destruction appeared on the painting: spots of dampness appeared, the paint layer began to peel off in small leaves.
In 1500, three years after the writing of the Last Supper, water flooded the refectory, touching the fresco. Ten years later, a terrible plague struck Milan, and the monastic brethren forgot about the treasure kept in their monastery. Fleeing from mortal danger, they (perhaps against their own will) could not properly take care of the fresco. By 1566 she was already in a very pitiful state. The monks cut a door in the middle of the picture, which was needed to connect the refectory with the kitchen. This door destroyed the legs of Christ and some of the apostles, and then the picture was disfigured with a huge state emblem, which was attached above the very head of Jesus Christ.
Subsequently, Austrian and French soldiers seemed to compete with each other in vandalism to destroy this treasure. At the end of the 18th century, the refectory of the monastery was turned into a stable, the fumes of horse manure covered the frescoes with thick mold, and the soldiers entering the stable amused themselves by throwing bricks at the heads of the apostles.
But even in its dilapidated state, “The Last Supper” makes an indelible impression. The French king Francis I, who captured Milan in the 16th century, was delighted with the Last Supper and wanted to transport it to Paris. He offered big money to anyone who could find a way to transport these frescoes to France. And he left this project only because the engineers gave up in the face of the difficulty of this enterprise.
Based on materials from “One Hundred Great Paintings” by N.A. Ionin, Veche Publishing House, 2002
Date of creation: 1495-1497.
Type: tempera.
Dimensions: 460*880 cm.
last supper
One of the most famous masters of the Renaissance received a commission for a large-scale fresco depicting the Last Supper in the refectory of the Church of Santa Maria Grazie in Milan. It is obvious that Lodovico Sforza was the initiator of this order, since he wished to make a generous gift to the Dominican brotherhood. The coat of arms of the Sforza family can be seen in the arch located above the room where the Last Supper takes place.
Philip, Matthew, Judas Thaddeus.
In the first sketches of the composition, Vinci intended to depict the moment of handing over a piece of bread to Judas, which meant that Christ would be betrayed by this particular apostle. However, in the version that has come down to us, the concept has been changed. The master does not depict a fragment of Christ's Holy Week. Thanks to what scholars know about the preparatory phase of the fresco's creation, it is clear that Leonardo, in the final version of the work, chose to depict the moment of Judas's identification as a traitor.
Bartholomew, James the Younger, Andrew.
The painting depicts Christ at the Easter meal with the apostles. In the room behind Christ and the apostles there are three windows, from which a view of the surrounding landscape opens. Leonardo meticulously painted distant trees and hills: this landscape is reminiscent of Milanese landscapes. The artist managed to achieve the effect of a three-dimensional image by making the table part of the refectory wall. As it is written in the Gospel (Matthew 26: 17-29), the table for this supper was set with Passover dishes, fruits and wine. In Leonardo's fresco there are dishes with eel and oranges - the artist's favorite food. All the apostles sit along the table, on the side opposite from the viewer, which makes it possible to observe even their shoes under the table. The tablecloth is painted realistically and the dishes standing on it, to the right and left of the table, the edges of the tablecloth hang in exactly the same way.
Simon Peter (behind), Judas, John.
Leonardo divides 12 figures into 4 subgroups, three people each, creating a canvas where each of the heroes has individual traits: They shout, talk, turn around, their faces express disbelief and confusion. The variety of angles, poses and gestures resemble an illustration of the physical laws of optics and dynamics. Like a drop falling into a stationary container of water, the words about the betrayal of one of the apostles upset the state of balance. This analogy, coupled with research into Leonardo’s optics, forces us to consider the fresco as a combination of scientific achievements and fine arts.
Thomas, James the Elder, Philip.
Christ
The figure of Christ is located in the center of the picture, as always in paintings on gospel story. Leonardo depicts him as a young man. The calm expression on his face evokes surprise and distrust among the apostles that one of those gathered at this table would betray him. Leonardo conveys precisely this moment of the meal, contrasting the peace of Jesus with the excitement of his disciples, who look at each other, gesticulate, wondering which of them could decide to do this. Every now and then they turn to Christ with the question: “Is it not I, Lord?..” - and with a shudder of heart they wait for the answer. Leonardo places the figure of Christ in the center of the table. All the compositional lines of the picture converge at one point - towards the head of Christ, creating a centripetal perspective.
Arch
The central arch depicts the coat of arms of Lodovico Sforza and his wife, the inscription reads: LU(dovicus) MA(ria) BE(atrix) EST(ensis) SF(ortia) AN(glus) DUX (mediolani). In the arch on the left is the coat of arms of Lodovico's son Massimiliano with text. The text in the right arch is adjacent to the coat of arms of the Duke of Bari, belonging to Lodovico's second son, Francesco.
Fresco in our time
Fatal mistakes in early attempts to restore the painting had a detrimental effect on both the original colors of the fresco and on the expressions of faces and the outlines of figures. But the latest stage marked a new milestone in restoration methodology, and also shed light on some of the details hidden under the layers of paint applied after Leonardo put down his brush. In addition, it became known about complex experiments with lighting, about conceptual ideas regarding perspective.
Of course, a work of such scale, such elaboration and importance for both art and science, asks more questions than it answers, and also deserves a more detailed acquaintance with itself. Historians and art historians devote their lives to researching the masterpiece, gradually revealing some of the secrets of the fresco, but all the riddles and messages of the great Leonardo are unlikely to be deciphered.
Fresco "The Last Supper" updated: September 12, 2017 by: Gleb
Each work of Leonardo da Vinci is unique and mysterious. There are many mysteries surrounding the Last Supper. Even the name of the painting carries a sacred meaning. There is a lot in the work hidden messages and symbols.
Not long ago, the legendary work was restored. After the restoration of the canvas, it was possible to learn a lot of new things, although the entire meaning of the painting is still not clear. More and more new assumptions about the hidden meaning of the picture are constantly appearing.
It is Leonardo da Vinci who is rightly considered the most mysterious person in the fine arts. Regarding his work there is a cardinal different opinions. Some people consider Leonardo to be practically a holy man, while others are sure that he sold his soul to the devil. But, no matter what one’s opinion is about the work and personality of Leonadro da Vinci, no one doubts his genius.
The history of the painting
It’s hard to believe, but the monumental painting “The Last Supper” was made in 1495 by order of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. Despite the fact that the ruler was famous for his dissolute disposition, he had a very modest and pious wife, Beatrice, whom he, it is worth noting, greatly respected and revered.
But, unfortunately, the true power of his love was revealed only when his wife suddenly died. The Duke's grief was so great that he did not leave his own chambers for 15 days, and when he left, the first thing he did was order Leonardo da Vinci to paint a fresco, which his late wife had once asked for, and forever put an end to his in a riotous manner life.
The artist completed his unique creation in 1498. The dimensions of the painting were 880 by 460 centimeters. The Last Supper can be best seen if you move 9 meters to the side and rise 3.5 meters up. When creating the picture, Leonardo used egg tempera, which subsequently played with the fresco cruel joke. The canvas began to collapse just 20 years after its creation.
Famous fresco located on one of the walls of the refectory in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. According to art historians, the artist specifically depicted in the picture exactly the same table and dishes that were used at that time in the church. With this simple technique, he tried to show that Jesus and Judas (Good and Evil) are much closer than we think.
1. The identities of the apostles depicted on the canvas have repeatedly become the subject of controversy. Judging by the inscriptions on the reproduction of the canvas kept in Lugano, these are (from left to right) Bartholomew, James the Younger, Andrew, Judas, Peter, John, Thomas, James the Elder, Philip, Matthew, Thaddeus and Simon Zelotes.
2. Many historians believe that the painting depicts the Eucharist (communion), since Jesus Christ points with both hands to the table with wine and bread. True, there is an alternative version. It will be discussed below...
3. Many people know the story from school that Da Vinci found the most difficult images of Jesus and Judas. Initially, the artist planned to make them the embodiment of good and evil and for a long time could not find people who would serve as models for creating his masterpiece.
Once, during a church service, an Italian saw a young man in the choir, so spiritual and pure that there was no doubt: this was the incarnation of Jesus for his “Last Supper.”
The last character whose prototype the artist still could not find was Judas. Da Vinci spent hours wandering the narrow Italian streets in search of a suitable model. And now, 3 years later, the artist found what he was looking for. Lying in the ditch was a drunkard who had long been on the edge of society. The artist ordered the drunkard to be brought to his studio. The man practically could not stand on his feet and had little idea where he had ended up.
After the image of Judas was completed, the drunkard approached the painting and admitted that he had seen it somewhere before. To the author’s bewilderment, the man replied that three years ago he was a completely different person - he sang in a church choir and led a righteous lifestyle. It was then that some artist approached him with a proposal to paint Christ from him.
Thus, according to historians, the same person posed for the images of Jesus and Judas at different periods of his life. This fact serves as a metaphor, showing that good and evil go hand in hand and there is a very thin line between them.
4. The most controversial is the opinion that according to right hand It is not a man who sits from Jesus Christ, but none other than Mary Magdalene. Her location indicates that she was the legal wife of Jesus. The silhouettes of Mary Magdalene and Jesus form the letter M. It supposedly means the word matrimonio, which translates as “marriage.”
5. According to some scientists, the unusual arrangement of the students on the canvas is not accidental. They say that Leonardo da Vinci placed people according to zodiac signs. According to this legend, Jesus was a Capricorn and his beloved Mary Magdalene was a Virgo.
6. It is impossible not to mention the fact that during the Second World War, as a result of a shell hitting the church building, almost everything was destroyed except the wall on which the fresco is depicted.
And before that, in 1566, local monks made a door in the wall with the image of the Last Supper, which “cut off” the legs of the characters in the fresco. A little later, the Milanese coat of arms was hung over the Savior’s head. And at the end of the 17th century, the refectory was turned into a stable.
7. No less interesting are the thoughts of people of art about the food depicted on the table. For example, near Judas Leonardo painted an overturned salt shaker (which at all times was considered a bad omen), as well as an empty plate.
8. There is an assumption that the Apostle Thaddeus, sitting with his back to Christ, is actually a self-portrait of da Vinci himself. And, given the artist’s disposition and his atheistic views, this hypothesis is more than likely.
I think that even if you do not consider yourself a connoisseur of high art, you are still interested in this information. If so, share the article with your friends.
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The very name of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous work “The Last Supper” carries a sacred meaning. Indeed, many of Leonardo’s paintings are surrounded by an aura of mystery. In The Last Supper, as in many other works of the artist, there is a lot of symbolism and hidden messages.
The restoration of the legendary creation was recently completed. Thanks to this, we managed to learn a lot interesting facts related to the history of the painting. Its meaning is still not entirely clear. New speculations are being born about the hidden message of the Last Supper.
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most mysterious personalities in the history of fine art. Some practically canonize the artist and write odes of praise to him, while others, on the contrary, consider him a blasphemer who sold his soul to the devil. But at the same time, no one doubts the genius of the great Italian.
The history of the painting
It’s hard to believe, but the monumental painting “The Last Supper” was made in 1495 by order of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. Despite the fact that the ruler was famous for his dissolute disposition, he had a very modest and pious wife, Beatrice, whom he, it is worth noting, greatly respected and revered.
But, unfortunately, the true power of his love was revealed only when his wife suddenly died. The Duke's grief was so great that he did not leave his own chambers for 15 days, and when he left, the first thing he did was order Leonardo da Vinci to paint a fresco, which his late wife had once asked for, and forever put an end to his riotous lifestyle.
The artist completed his unique creation in 1498. The dimensions of the painting were 880 by 460 centimeters. The Last Supper can be best seen if you move 9 meters to the side and rise 3.5 meters up. When creating the painting, Leonardo used egg tempera, which subsequently played a cruel joke on the fresco. The canvas began to collapse just 20 years after its creation.
The famous fresco is located on one of the walls of the refectory in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. According to art historians, the artist specifically depicted in the picture exactly the same table and dishes that were used at that time in the church. With this simple technique, he tried to show that Jesus and Judas (Good and Evil) are much closer than we think.
Interesting facts
1. The identities of the apostles depicted on the canvas have repeatedly become the subject of controversy. Judging by the inscriptions on the reproduction of the canvas kept in Lugano, these are (from left to right) Bartholomew, James the Younger, Andrew, Judas, Peter, John, Thomas, James the Elder, Philip, Matthew, Thaddeus and Simon Zelotes.
2. Many historians believe that the painting depicts the Eucharist (communion), since Jesus Christ points with both hands to the table with wine and bread. True, there is an alternative version. It will be discussed below...
3. Many people know the story from school that Da Vinci found the most difficult images of Jesus and Judas. Initially, the artist planned to make them the embodiment of good and evil and for a long time could not find people who would serve as models for creating his masterpiece.
Once, during a church service, an Italian saw a young man in the choir, so spiritual and pure that there was no doubt: this was the incarnation of Jesus for his “Last Supper.”
The last character whose prototype the artist still could not find was Judas. Da Vinci spent hours wandering the narrow Italian streets in search of a suitable model. And now, 3 years later, the artist found what he was looking for. Lying in the ditch was a drunkard who had long been on the edge of society. The artist ordered the drunkard to be brought to his studio. The man practically could not stand on his feet and had little idea where he had ended up.
After the image of Judas was completed, the drunkard approached the painting and admitted that he had seen it somewhere before. To the author’s bewilderment, the man replied that three years ago he was a completely different person - he sang in a church choir and led a righteous lifestyle. It was then that some artist approached him with a proposal to paint Christ from him.
Thus, according to historians, the same person posed for the images of Jesus and Judas at different periods of his life. This fact serves as a metaphor, showing that good and evil go hand in hand and there is a very thin line between them.
4. The most controversial is the opinion that sitting on the right hand of Jesus Christ is not a man at all, but none other than Mary Magdalene. Her location indicates that she was the legal wife of Jesus. The silhouettes of Mary Magdalene and Jesus form the letter M. It supposedly means the word matrimonio, which translates as “marriage.”
5. According to some scientists, the unusual arrangement of the students on the canvas is not accidental. They say that Leonardo da Vinci placed people according to zodiac signs. According to this legend, Jesus was a Capricorn and his beloved Mary Magdalene was a Virgo.
6. It is impossible not to mention the fact that during the Second World War, as a result of a shell hitting the church building, almost everything was destroyed except the wall on which the fresco is depicted.
And before that, in 1566, local monks made a door in the wall with the image of the Last Supper, which “cut off” the legs of the characters in the fresco. A little later, the Milanese coat of arms was hung over the Savior’s head. And at the end of the 17th century, the refectory was turned into a stable.
7. No less interesting are the thoughts of people of art about the food depicted on the table. For example, near Judas Leonardo painted an overturned salt shaker (which at all times was considered a bad omen), as well as an empty plate.
8. There is an assumption that the Apostle Thaddeus, sitting with his back to Christ, is actually a self-portrait of da Vinci himself. And, given the artist’s disposition and his atheistic views, this hypothesis is more than likely.
I think even if you don’t consider yourself a connoisseur high art, you are still interested in this information. If so, share the article with your friends.
Leonardo da Vinci is the most mysterious and unstudied personality of past years. Some ascribe to him a gift from God and canonize him as a saint, while others, on the contrary, consider him an atheist who sold his soul to the devil. But the genius of the great Italian is undeniable, since everything that the hand of the great painter and engineer ever touched was instantly filled with hidden meaning. Today we will talk about famous work"The Last Supper" and the many secrets it hides.
Location and history of creation:
The famous fresco is located in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, located in the square of the same name in Milan. Or rather, on one of the walls of the refectory. According to historians, the artist specifically depicted in the picture exactly the same table and dishes that were in the church at that time. By this he tried to show that Jesus and Judas (good and evil) are much closer to people than they seem.
The painter received the order to paint the work from his patron, the Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza in 1495. The ruler was famous for his dissolute life and youth was surrounded by young bacchantes. The situation did not change at all because the Duke had a beautiful and modest wife, Beatrice d’Este, who sincerely loved her husband and, due to her meek disposition, could not contradict his way of life. It must be admitted that Ludovico Sforza sincerely revered his wife and was attached to her in his own way. But the dissolute duke felt the true power of love only at the moment of the sudden death of his wife. The man's grief was so great that he did not leave his room for 15 days. And when he came out, the first thing he did was order a fresco from Leonardo da Vinci, which his late wife had once asked for, and forever stopped all entertainment at court.
Pictured is the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie.
The work was completed in 1498. Its dimensions were 880 by 460 cm. Many connoisseurs of the artist’s work agreed that “The Last Supper” can best be viewed if you move 9 meters to the side and rise 3.5 meters up. Moreover, there is something to see. Already during the author's lifetime, the fresco was considered his best work. Although, calling the painting a fresco would be incorrect. The fact is that Leonardo da Vinci wrote the work not on wet plaster, but on dry plaster, in order to be able to edit it several times. To do this, the artist applied a thick layer of egg tempra to the wall, which subsequently did a disservice, beginning to collapse just 20 years after the painting was painted. But more on that a little later.
The photo shows the Last Supper in the refectory.
Idea of the piece:
“The Last Supper” depicts the last Easter dinner of Jesus Christ with his disciples and apostles, held in Jerusalem on the eve of his arrest by the Romans. According to scripture, Jesus said during a meal that one of the apostles would betray him. Leonardo da Vinci tried to depict the reaction of each of the students to the prophetic phrase of the Teacher. To do this, he walked around the city, talked to ordinary people, made them laugh, upset them, and encouraged them. And at the same time he observed the emotions on their faces. The author's goal was to depict the famous dinner from a purely human point of view. That is why he depicted everyone present in a row and did not draw a halo above anyone’s head (as other artists liked to do)
Pictured: Sketch of the Last Supper
1. According to historians, Leonardo da Vinci had the hardest time writing two characters: Jesus and Judas. The artist tried to make them the embodiment of good and evil, so for a long time he could not find suitable models. One day, an Italian saw a young singer in a church choir - so spiritual and pure that there was no doubt: here he was - the prototype of Jesus for his “Last Supper”. But, despite the fact that the image of the Teacher was painted, Leonardo da Vinci corrected it for a long time, considering it insufficiently perfect.
The last unwritten character in the picture was Judas. The artist spent hours wandering through the worst places, looking for a model to paint among the degraded people. And now, almost 3 years later, he got lucky. An absolutely degenerate guy was lying in a ditch, in a state of severe alcoholic intoxication. The artist ordered him to be brought to the studio. The man could hardly stand on his feet and had no idea where he was. However, after the image of Judas was painted, the drunkard approached the picture and admitted that he had already seen it before. To the author’s bewilderment, the man replied that three years ago he was completely different, led a correct lifestyle and sang in the church choir. It was then that some artist approached him with a proposal to paint Christ from him. Thus, according to historians, Jesus and Judas were based on the same person at different periods of his life. This once again emphasizes the fact that good and evil go so close that sometimes the line between them is imperceptible.
By the way, while working, Leonardo da Vinci was distracted by the abbot of the monastery, who constantly hurried the artist and argued that he should paint a picture for days, and not stand in front of it in thought. One day the painter could not stand it and promised the abbot to write off Judas from him if he did not stop interfering in creative process.
The photo shows Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
2. The most discussed secret of the fresco is the figure of the disciple located at the right hand of Christ. It is believed that this is none other than Mary Magdalene and her location indicates the fact that she was not Jesus' mistress, as is commonly believed, but his legal wife. This fact is confirmed by the letter “M”, which is formed by the contours of the couple’s bodies. Supposedly it means the word "Matrimonio", which translated means "marriage". Some historians argue with this statement and insist that Leonardo da Vinci's signature - the letter "V" - is visible in the painting. The first statement is supported by the mention that Mary Magdalene washed Christ’s feet and dried them with her hair. According to traditions, only a legal wife could do this. Moreover, it is believed that the woman was pregnant at the time of her husband’s execution and subsequently gave birth to a daughter, Sarah, who marked the beginning of the Merovingian dynasty.
3. Some scholars argue that the unusual arrangement of the students in the picture is not accidental. They say that Leonardo da Vinci placed people according to... zodiac signs. According to this legend, Jesus was a Capricorn and his beloved Mary Magdalene was a virgin.
Pictured is Mary Magdalene
4. It is impossible not to mention the fact that during the bombing during the Second World War, a shell that hit the church building destroyed almost everything except the wall on which the fresco was depicted. Although, the people themselves not only did not take care of the work, but also treated it in a truly barbaric manner. In 1500, a flood in the church caused irreparable damage to the painting. But instead of restoring the masterpiece, in 1566 the monks made a door in the wall depicting the Last Supper, which “cut off” the characters’ legs. A little later, the Milanese coat of arms was hung over the Savior’s head. And at the end of the 17th century, the refectory was turned into a stable. The already dilapidated fresco was covered with manure, and the French competed with each other: who would hit the head of one of the apostles with a brick. However, The Last Supper also had fans. The French king Francis I was so impressed by the work that he seriously thought about how to transport it to his home.
The photo shows the Last Supper fresco.
5. No less interesting are the thoughts of historians about the food depicted on the table. For example, near Judas Leonardo da Vinci depicted an overturned salt shaker (which at all times was considered a bad omen), as well as an empty plate. But the biggest point of controversy is still the fish in the picture. Contemporaries still cannot agree on what is painted on the fresco - a herring or an eel. Scientists believe that this ambiguity is not accidental. The artist specially encrypted in the painting hidden meaning. The fact is that in Italian “eel” is pronounced “aringa”. We add one more letter, and we get a completely different word - “arringa” (instruction). At the same time, the word "herring" is pronounced in northern Italy as "renga", which means "one who denies religion." For the atheist artist, the second interpretation is closer.
As you can see, in one single picture there are hidden many secrets and understatements, which more than one generation has been struggling to uncover. Many of them will remain unsolved.
