The Last Supper: The History of the Event
The Last Supper was held on the evening of preparation for the Jewish Passover, a very holy time for the Jewish nation in remembrance of when God spared the Jews from the plague of death on every firstborn child in Egypt. Jesus arranged the dinner purposely by instructing His disciples where to host it. His twelve disciples were with Him during and after the meal. It is here that Jesus makes the prediction that Peter will deny knowing Him three times before the rooster crows that morning, which became true. Jesus also predicts that one disciple, Judas Iscariot, will betray Him, which also became true. The Last Supper was a gathering for Christ to fellowship with His disciples one last time prior to His arrest and crucifixion.
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Because his employer
requested he do so. Leornado worked for Ludovico Sforza, Duke of
Milan, for nearly eighteen years (1482-99). The Duke decided he wanted this
particular religious scene painted and Leonardo, who was not stupid,
decided painting it made perfect financial sense.
How Long Did it Take
Leonardo to Paint This?
He began working on it in 1495,
and finished Last Supper in 1498. This is worth noting, as
Leonardo was a known procrastinator with a marked tendency to leave projects
unfinished.
Who's in It?
Looking across the picture from
left to right:
·
Bartholomew, James Minor and Andrew form a group of three. All are aghast,
Andrew to the point of holding his hands up in a "stop!" gesture.
·
Judas, Peter and John form the next group of three. Judas,
you will note, has his face in shadow and is clutching a small bag (of
silver?). Peter is visibly angry and a feminine-looking
John seems
about to swoon.
·
Christ is the calm in the midst of the storm.
·
Thomas, James Major and Philip are next. Thomas is clearly agitated,
James Major stunned and Philip seems to be seeking clarification.
·
Matthew, Thaddeus and Simon comprise the last group of three
figures. It appears that, when a situation turns ugly, Simon is the "go
to" guy for explanations.
The
food
·
The table shows
leavened bread (yet another reason it could not be the Passover), fish, wine
and some type of herb present. To me there also appears to be cheese present.
There is no sign of lamb which would traditionally have been eaten at the
passover.
The Cups/Glasses/Wine/Plates
There
are twelve glasses shown to be present, each containing a red wine. It would be
normal to drink wine with the meal - water was often contaminated. The glasses
were odd however. Glass was popular with the Romans of the time but the
conservative Jews would have drunk from goblets made from clay or wood. Only
the wealthy would have drunk from metal goblets. The same is true of metal
plates, several of which are shown. There's no pitcher or jug shown from which
the glasses could have been refilled. There is a small, apparently empty, glass
bottle, but this is too small to have contained the wine needed.
The Knife
Due
to it's poor condition there has been some argument about the owner of the hand
holding the knife (or, as some call it, - a dagger):
The theories are:
1.
The hand belongs to John/Mary (whoever you choose to believe
they are). Peter is holding his/her wrist. Andrew, who sees this, is horrified
at this.
2.
The hand belongs to a separate, obscured person, probably John, with
Mary shown at the right.
3.
The hand holding the knife belongs to Peter - he has it twisted
backwards away from Judas
We have discovered the clear image of a baby that has been hidden for centuries in the middle of Juda's clothes. The three colours that can bee seen in the painting of Judas' clothes, make it look slightly different and stand out from the rest of the discilples. Even Jesus is only painted wearing two colours.
The
shape and size of Judas' neck and shoulder look a bit bigger than it shoud.
This propotion defines the curve of the baby's top of head.
As we have pointed on our video, the image of Andrew can bee seen having
a direct visual contact with the baby. It seems he is trying to say something.
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