Apostles at the Last Supper. Leonardo da Vinci. Last Supper. Sketch of the "Last Supper"

last supper Leonardo da Vinci’s painting is so large-scale and mysterious that for centuries advice and tips have been passed on about what angle to look at it from so as not to miss a single detail. It is believed that you need to move nine meters away from the canvas and rise 3.5 meters up. Such distances seem too large until you remember the enormous dimensions of the painting - 460 by 880 cm.

The name Leonardo is shrouded in many secrets. For centuries, the best minds of mankind have been trying to unravel the hidden intentions of his creations, but it is unlikely that it will ever be possible to fully comprehend the full depth of his genius. However, there are facts that art critics have no doubt about. So, they are sure that the painting was created in 1495-1498 by order of Leonardo’s patron, Duke Ludovico Sforza, who was advised to do this by his meek wife Beatrice d’Este. The fresco is in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. This is where the unconditional truths end, and space for debate, opinions and reflection begins.

There is ambiguity even in the definition of the painting technique that da Vinci used when creating The Last Supper. Out of habit, I would like to call it a fresco, but this is not so. Fresco is painting on wet plaster, and the artist painted the picture on a dry wall in order to be able to make changes and additions to it in the future.

The work is located on the back wall of the monastery refectory. This arrangement is not strange or accidental: the theme of the picture is the last Easter dinner of Jesus Christ with his disciples and apostles. All depicted figures are located on one side of the table so that the viewer can see the face of each of them. The apostles are grouped in groups of three, and this symbol of three is found in other elements of the picture: in the triangles that themselves form from lines, in the number of windows behind Jesus. The work of Leonardo da Vinci differs from a number of paintings on this topic in that there is no halo over any of the characters he depicts; the viewer is invited to look at events from an exclusively human point of view.

The emotions of each of the apostles are unique and are not repeated by other participants in the action. The viewer has the opportunity to see that they all react in their own way to the words of Jesus Christ, who said:

“...Truly I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”

Leonardo da Vinci worked most carefully on the images of Christ and Judas. There is an interesting legend that they were written by the same person. They say that Leonardo saw the prototype of Jesus in a young singer from a church choir. Three years passed, and the artist met a completely degraded man, from whom he painted Judas. The model’s confession turned out to be shocking: he was the same young singer, but in a few years he managed to move away from goodness and purity to debauchery and darkness.

The idea that good and evil coexist in our world can also be seen in the color scheme of the painting: the artist used techniques that are based on contrasts.

Many questions regarding The Last Supper remain unanswered, but one thing is certain - this creation is an important milestone in the development of painting of the 15th-16th centuries. Thus, it was possible to bring the depth of perspective to a new level and create a sense of volume, which even stereo cinema of our day can envy.

From October 15 to Sunday December 3, 2017 over 8 Sundays you can see Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece “The Last Supper” until 22.00.
The extended opening hours of the museum will increase the number of visitors by 3,000 people. The museum will be open until 22.00 (last opening at 21.45):
October 15
22 of October
29th of October
November 5 (free admission in honor of the Una Domenica al Museo initiative)
November 12
November 19
November 26
December 3 (free admission in honor of the Una Domenica al Museo initiative)
Only a certain part of the tickets can be pre-booked by phone 02 92800360, the rest of the tickets will be sold at the museum box office from 14.00 on the day of visiting the museum.

“The Last Supper” (“Cenacolo Vinciano”)

In the heart of Milan in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie houses the greatest work of world art by Leonardo da Vinci “The Last Supper” (“Cenacolo Vinciano” in Italian ) . I would like to note that this work is not a painting, but fresco, which a talented artist painted on the wall of the monastery refectory.

The fresco depicting the scene of Christ's last meal with his disciples was commissioned by the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Maria Sforzo. The painting was started by Leonardo in 1495 and completed in 1498; work proceeded intermittently.
The approximate dimensions of the fresco are 880 by 460 cm. It is noteworthy that the artist executed the work not on wet plaster, but on dry plaster, in order to be able to edit it several times. The artist applied a thick layer of egg tempra to the wall, which caused the destruction of the fresco 20 years after it was painted.

Fresco “The Last Supper”:

This fresco depicts the most terrible story of betrayal and the manifestation of the most selfless love. The main characters are the teacher and the student who betrayed him. Both know what will happen and both will not make an attempt to change anything.

The picture of the last meal of Jesus with the apostles was recreated by many painters, but no one, neither before nor after Leonardo da Vinci, was able to convey the drama of the New Testament narrative with such expressiveness. Unlike other artists, Leonardo did not paint an icon; he was interested in non-church dogmas, but human feelings of the Savior and his disciples. Thanks to the techniques used by the master, observers seem to find themselves inside the fresco. No other painting on the theme of the Last Supper can compare with uniqueness of the composition and drawing of details Leonardo's masterpiece.

The work is believed to depict the moment when Jesus utters the words that one of the apostles will betray him (“and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I say to you, one of you will betray me”), and the reaction of each of them.
As in other depictions of the Last Supper of that time, Leonardo places those sitting at the table on one side so that the viewer can see their faces. Most previous writings on the subject excluded Judas, placing him alone at the opposite end of the table from where the other eleven apostles and Jesus sat, or depicting all the apostles except Judas with a halo. Judas clutches a small pouch, perhaps representing the silver he received for betraying Jesus, or an allusion to his role among the twelve apostles as treasurer. He was the only one with his elbow on the table. Knife in hand Petra, pointing away from Christ, perhaps refers the viewer to the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane during the arrest of Christ.

Gesture of Jesus can be interpreted in two ways. According to the Bible, Jesus predicts that his betrayer will reach out to eat at the same time he does. Judas reaches for the dish, not noticing that Jesus is also extending his right hand to him. At the same time, Jesus points to bread and wine, symbolizing the sinless body and shed blood respectively.
The figure of Jesus is positioned and illuminated in such a way that the viewer's attention is drawn primarily to him. The head of Jesus is at a vanishing point for all lines of perspective.

The painting contains repeated references to the number three:

The apostles sit in groups of three;
behind Jesus there are three windows;
the contours of the figure of Christ resemble a triangle.
The light illuminating the entire scene does not come from the windows painted behind, but comes from the left, like the real light from the window on the left wall.
In many places in the picture there is a golden ratio; for example, where Jesus and John, who is on his right, put their hands, the canvas is divided in this ratio.

How to visit the Last Supper fresco by Leonardo da Vinci in Milan:

Viewing of the fresco is carried out groups of up to 30 people. Be sure to book your ticket in advance, and the reservation must be paid immediately. There are many websites that sell tickets at exorbitant prices, but it is more profitable and reliable to buy on the official website of the Italian Ministry of Culture www.vivaticket.it.
Tickets can be purchased online, but this is very difficult and almost impossible during the peak tourist season, so it is advisable to take care of purchasing tickets well in advance of your trip.
20 minutes before the show, in the building to the left of the church, you need to exchange your reservation slips for the tickets themselves. The entrance to the “Last Supper” is also located there.

Ticket prices:

An adult ticket costs 10 euros + 2 euros booking fee.

Book by phone: +39 02 92800360
Ticket sales:
FROM DECEMBER 13 ticket sales for the month of March
FROM JANUARY 12 ticket sales for the month of April
FROM FEBRUARY 8 ticket sales for the month of May
FROM MARCH 8 ticket sales for the month of June

Opening hours of the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie:

8.15 -19.00, break from 12.00 to 15.00.
On pre-holiday and holiday days the church is open from 11.30 to 18.30. Closed: January 1, May 1, December 25.

How to get to Santa Maria delle Grazie:

by tram 18 towards Magenta, stop Santa Maria delle Grazie
Metro line M2, stop Conciliazione or Cadorna

Vyacheslav Adrov:

Announcement...

In Milan, in the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie there is a famous fresco that has haunted numerous researchers of the identity of its author for hundreds of years. Since this is Leonardo himself, it is believed that there must be some kind of secret or, at least, a riddle in his work. There are many ideas and versions known about the secret messages contained in the fresco. For example, Dan Brown's version, which caused a lot of noise in the art world. I, like everyone else, took a close look at the image and, guess what, it seems to me that I understood its additional meaning (if it was intended)! And Dan Brown's version is just a superficial reaction to the detail necessary to reflect the author's holistic intent. Moreover, there is a detail (a effeminate figure next to Christ) that carries a completely different meaning. No hints about the life partner of Christ!

In order to preserve the emotionality and dynamics of thoughts, I decided to write down thoughts and intellectual impulses as they arise and are realized. Thus, I maintained the atmosphere of research, writing down the next portion of mental developments; I still don’t know whether they will be useful in the future and, generally speaking, how will it all end? Will there be any interesting results? That's why the genre is indicated in the subtitle.

The mystery of Leonardo da Vinci's fresco "The Last Supper"

(detective investigation of one biased viewing of the famous fresco)

Part 1.

I start as usual. Returning from another trip organized by the “7 Peaks Club”, sitting in a rocking chair, wrapped in a blanket, looking at the raging fiery tongues of the fireplace stove and sipping... (insert yourself: pipe, cigar, cognac, Calvados,...), I thought about and I assessed the results of the trip and prepared for the next one. And then a reproduction of the fresco “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci caught my eye (or popped into my imagination). As befits a normal traveler, I, of course, was in that very refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. And, of course, I admired (and now even more so) one of the master’s greatest creations (although almost nothing is visible on it, photo 1).

Briefly, to refresh your memory. The fresco (although, in fact, this image is not a fresco due to the peculiarities of the technology for its creation) has dimensions of 450 * 870 cm and was created in the period from 1495 to 1498 by order of Duke Ludovico Sforza and his wife Beatrice d'Este. Because it was not created like a typical fresco - painted with egg tempera on a dry wall covered with layers of resin, plaster and mastic - it began to deteriorate very early and was restored many times. At the same time, the attitude of restorers towards it was not always distinguished by such reverence as is customary now - faces and figures were corrected, various technologies for applying paint and protective coating were used. When trying to move it to another place in 1821, it was almost destroyed. There is nothing to say about the attitude of the French occupiers towards it, who set up an armory and prison prisoners in the monastery (there was such an episode in the history of the refectory).

A little about the plot. It is inspired by the biblical story of Jesus' last dinner with his disciples, where he said that one of those present would betray him. According to most art critics, Leonardo’s work most expressively of all similar works on this subject conveys the degree of the apostles’ emotional reaction to these words of Jesus.

How long has this fresco existed (more than 500 years), for the same number of years researchers and interpreters have been studying this work, finding or trying to find secret signs, symbols, riddles, messages,... There is surprise at the quality of the conveyed perspective, evidence of the use of the golden ratio, the search for the secret of the number 3 (3 windows, 3 groups of apostles, triangle figure of Christ). Someone sees on the fresco an image of Mary Magdalene (with the female symbol V and the symbol M associated with her name - this is about Dan Brown), or John the Baptist with his favorite gesture - the index finger raised up. I'm interested in all this, but not very much. As our man - an engineer - Leonardo must be practical, although the historical situation makes its own adjustments to the need to use the “Aesopian language”, and he could leave a DATE on his work! Which one? This is his choice, but the date is important for himself or for the entire World of the event. And I started looking for it in the image!

Let me remind you that the most reliable way of fixing dates, which does not depend on chronology systems, calendar reforms, the duration of the reigns of kings and dukes, the founding and destruction of cities, and even assigning the date of the creation of the World, is by the stars, i.e., drawing up a horoscope! And this method was widely used not only in the Middle Ages. You may ask why I suddenly decided that there might be a date on the image? It seems to me that the author gladly took advantage of the great chance associated with the number 12. 12 hours, 12 months, 12 signs of the Zodiac, 12 apostles,... Well, I’ll also say about the horoscope. It uniquely determines the date if the locations of even seven planets visible to the naked eye in the constellations at the time of observation are indicated. Repetitions of such combinations are very rare and occur after hundreds of thousands of years! (With a smaller number of accurately indicated planets, the repetition period is shorter, but there are still very high chances of accurately indicating the date in the historical period.) Since modern calculation methods based on the laws of celestial mechanics make it possible to restore the position of the planets in the sky at any moment, then to determine date, all that remains is to correctly set the initial data - that is, the location of the planets according to the constellations on the desired day.

So, I begin to peer and examine.

Apostles. Most likely (due to their number) these are symbols of the zodiac signs. But how can signs be distributed between characters, and who corresponds to which sign? Several comments immediately arise.

In many images of this plot, including icons, judging by the appearance of the characters, not only is the seating order inconsistent, but they also sit either in a row, sometimes in a circle, sometimes in groups, that is, there seems to be no canonical (traditional) order For a long time, they could not identify all the characters in the image of Leonardo. Only four were reliably identified (out of 13!): Judas, John, Peter and Christ. Allegedly, in the 19th century, the diaries of Leonardo himself were “discovered” and everything was determined (there were also clues in the form of signatures under the characters on some modern copies of the fresco). Due to the dynamic arrangement of the figures - their “mixing”, “peeking out” from behind each other friend - there is a possibility that the constellations (if they are there) are not in zodiacal order.

One way or another, in accordance with prevailing ideas, the fresco depicts (from left to right, in the order of the FACES):

Bartholomew, Jacob Alpheus, Andrew, Judas Iscariot, Peter, John, Jesus Christ, Thomas, James Zebedee, Philip, Matthew, Judas Thaddeus, Simon.

To identify signs by which one could recognize allusions to the signs of the zodiac in the apostles, I tried to collect available factual information about the biographies of the characters, not yet knowing what of this might be useful (Table 1):

Their other names and nicknames;

The order of calling by Christ (only the first four are known);

Approximate age based on visual assessment of images (more based on a copy by an unknown artist (photo 2);

The degree of kinship with Christ and the other apostles (who is interested in this topic, I recommend literature, except, of course, the Gospels: James D. Tabor “The Dynasty of Jesus” (AST, 2007), Michael Baigent “The Papers of Jesus” (Exmo, 2008), Robert Ambelain “ Jesus or the Deadly Secrets of the Templars" (Eurasia, 2005), V. G. Nosovsky, A. T. Fomenko "Tsar of the Slavs" (Neva, 2005), "Apocryphal Tales (Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles)" edited by V. Vitkovsky (Amphora, 2005));

The occupation of the apostles before their ministry;

Circumstances of death;

Location of the graves and relics of the apostles.

I invite those who wish to clarify and add details to fill out the table more completely - it is very entertaining, and the information may be useful.

Finding information to fill out this table was a very interesting and educational process, but it did not give me any of the ideas I needed!

Let's continue. Since Leonardo arranged the apostles in groups of 3 people, and even mixed them up there, then maybe the order of the signs is not important for him? What if we play around with these threes - these are groupings of signs by types of elements?! Fire, earth, air, water? And what - 4 groups of 3 signs! Or maybe we should take into account the figure of Christ as a sign of the zodiac, and exclude Judas from consideration altogether!? After all, in almost all images of the Last Supper, artists separated Judas from the rest - either painted with very dark colors, or turned his face away from the viewer, or, as in the icons, deprived him, unlike the others, of a halo. And then - what sign can the figure of Christ represent? Maybe his sign is Capricorn? Then the division into groups seems to be broken and the division into groups itself loses its meaning (if there is one). Yes, and Leonardo’s Judas is not very humiliated by visual means. He, like 7 (!) other of the 12 apostles, is depicted in profile, but only slightly more turned away from the viewer.

Let's look further at the details of the image. Items on the table: maybe there are clues somewhere - filling and placement of glasses, placement of breads, plates, salt shakers, other items,...? Elements, colors of clothing,...? Hairstyles, degree of gray hair, presence and length of beard, ...? Stop! Beard! There are seven visible planets in total that were known before the invention of Galileo’s tube, together with the Sun and Moon, and also Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Thus, the maximum number of pointers to the planets is 7. We count the beards: in total, of different lengths, there are 8 of them. Together with the beard of Jesus. But maybe his beard shouldn’t be counted? I wonder who then is the Sun if not him?! Let's go further - hands. Who's holding what? Maybe some combinations on the fingers? Their relative position? We fill out the table further so that it is always before our eyes. Maybe not right away, but something will open up?

I'm rocking in a chair, sipping... Or maybe the bearded ones are after all planets, and, for example, some kind of comet? But, of the seven planets, two are feminine: Venus and the Moon, it’s somehow difficult to associate them with beards. Let's take a closer look at the apostles: the artist gave two figures a clear effeminate appearance: John and Philip - both their faces and poses with crossed arms. Maybe this is a hint at “female planets”? I’m rocking in my chair again: Leonardo da Vinci during his lifetime did not intend to be famous for centuries and wrote the fresco for the Customer and his contemporaries, so that with a little mental strain they could understand his additional message (except for the semantic and aesthetic).

What's in Judas's hand? And Peter’s too? No, Judas apparently has a bag of silver, which he will soon receive, and Peter has a knife, probably as a symbol of his future (ostentatious?) determination in the process of detaining Jesus. All this is semantic attributes.

Still, we need to decide. I'm putting forward a hypothesis. The viewer's gaze is instinctively drawn to the figure of Jesus - this is God, this is the Sun! On his right hand is a young, but very energetic and aggressive man (John), whom Jesus, like his brother Jacob of Zebedee, called Boanerges (Boanerges) - apparently, “very, twice as energetic”! They reacted very aggressively and sometimes with anger to injustice, humiliation and insults and to things that were not going the way they would like! Moreover, completely in the style of the Caucasians, so that Christ had to restrain them! (this is where the previously collected information in table 1 came in handy -

This implies that they had appropriate hormonal levels and secondary sexual characteristics. And how we see this aggressive person in Leonardo - yes, she is a humble girl, such that some (Dan Brown) consider her a woman - Mary Magdalene! With such an obvious discrepancy, Leonardo hints - this is the constellation Virgo! And now let us once again pay attention to Jacob of Zebedee, whose figure (and NOT FACE) is closest to the left of Christ. He spread his arms in different directions. According to commentators, he restrains the apostles who emotionally perceived the words of Christ (or, perhaps, physically protects Jesus from a possible uncontrolled release of energy (that’s him, Boanerges!). And what do I see? With his spread arms, he looks like... Libra! !! Then it turns out that Jesus the Sun is located between the constellations Virgo and Libra! And all the signs are lined up in the usual order - from Aries to Pisces! And where are the other planets besides the Sun? I get up to move to the rocking chair. I glance at laid out tables, printouts of the fresco. Mama Mia! (I hit myself on the forehead!) Yes, here they are, the signs of the planets!!! Simply obvious! In the most visible place! No racking your brains! I’ll write now. Eh, the ink in the pen is out! I’ll go fill it up hand, and I’ll rock a little in the chair. Will you wait?

I draw your attention - since we identified Jacob the Elder with Libra, this means that the constellations are not distributed in the order of the PERSONS, but in the order of the seated FIGURES!

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 were able to learn many 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 picture 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 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.

A recent spate of books and articles has increasingly suggested that Leonardo da Vinci was the leader of an underground society and that he hid secret codes and messages in his artwork. Is it true? In addition to his role in history as a famous artist, scientist and inventor, was he also the keeper of some great secret that has been passed down through the centuries?

CIPHERS AND ENCRYPTION. LEONARDO DA VINCI'S ENCRYPTION METHOD.

Leonardo was, of course, no stranger to the use of codes and encryption. All his notes are written backwards, mirrored. Why exactly Leonardo did this remains unclear. It has been suggested that he may have felt that some of his military inventions would be too destructive and powerful if they fell into the wrong hands. Therefore, he protected his papers using the write-back method. Other scientists point out that this type of encryption is too simple, because to decipher it you just need to hold the paper up to the mirror. If Leonardo used it for security, he was probably concerned with hiding the contents only from the casual observer.

Other researchers believe that he used backward writing simply because it was easier for him. Leonardo was left-handed, and writing backwards was less difficult for him than for a right-hander.

CRYPTEX

Recently, many people credit Leonardo with inventing a mechanism called the cryptex. A cryptex is a tube that consists of a series of rings with the letters of the alphabet engraved on them. When the rings are turned so that some of the letters line up to form the password to open the cryptex - one of the end caps can be removed and the contents (usually a piece of papyrus wrapped around a glass container of vinegar) can be removed. If someone tries to get the contents by breaking the device, the glass container inside will crack and the vinegar will dissolve what is written on the papyrus.

In his popular book (fiction) The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown credits the invention of the cryptex to Leonardo da Vinci. But there is no real evidence that it was da Vinci who invented and/or designed this device.

SECRETS OF THE MONA LISA PAINTING BY LEONARDO DA VINCI. THE SECRET OF GIOCONDA'S SMILE.

One popular idea is that Leonardo wrote secret symbols or messages in his works. After analyzing his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, many believe that Leonardo used some tricks when creating the painting. Many people find Mona Lisa's smile particularly haunting. They say that it appears to change even though there is no change in the properties of the paint on the surface of the painting.

Professor Margaret Livingston of Harvard University suggests that Leonardo painted the edges of the portrait's smile so that they appear slightly out of focus. Because of this, they are easier to see in peripheral vision than when looking directly at them. This may explain why some people report that the portrait appears to smile more when they look directly at the smile.

Another theory, proposed by Christopher Tyler and Leonid Kontsevich of the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, says that smiling appears to change due to variable levels of random noise in the human visual system. If you close your eyes in a dark room, you will notice that everything is not perfectly black. The cells in our eyes create low levels of "background noise" (we see this as tiny dots of light and dark). Our brains usually filter this out, but Tyler and Kontsevich suggested that when looking at the Mona Lisa, these little dots could change the shape of her smile. To prove their theory, they placed several random sets of dots on the Mona Lisa painting and showed it to people. Some of the respondents said that Gioconda’s smile looked more joyful than usual, others thought on the contrary, that the dots darkened the portrait. Tyler and Kontsevich argue that noise, which is inherent in the human visual system, has the same effect. When someone looks at a painting, their visual system adds noise to the image and changes it, making the smile appear to change.

Why does Mona Lisa smile? Over the years, people have speculated: some thought she might have been pregnant, others found the smile sad and suggested she was unhappy in her marriage.

Dr. Lillian Schwartz of the Bell Labs research center has come up with a theory that seems unlikely but intriguing. She thinks that Gioconda is smiling because the artist was playing a joke on the audience. She claims that the picture is not of a smiling young woman, that in fact it is a self-portrait of the artist himself. Schwartz noticed that when she used a computer to identify features in the Mona Lisa portrait and Da Vinci's self-portrait, they matched exactly. However, other experts note that this may be a result of both portraits being painted with the same paints and brushes, by the same artist, and using the same painting techniques.

THE SECRET OF THE PICTURE THE LAST SUPPER BY LEONARDO DA VINCI.

Dan Brown, in his popular thriller The Da Vinci Code, suggests that Leonardo's painting The Last Supper has a number of hidden meanings and symbols. In the fictional story, there is an early church conspiracy to suppress the importance of Mary Magdalene, a follower of Jesus Christ (history records - to the chagrin of many believers - that she was his wife). Allegedly, Leonardo was the head of a secret order of people who knew the truth about Magdalene and tried to preserve it. One way Leonardo did this was to leave clues in his famous work, The Last Supper.

The painting depicts Jesus' last meal with his disciples before his death. Leonardo tries to capture the moment when Jesus announces that he will be betrayed, and that one of the men at the table will be his betrayer. The most significant clue left by Leonardo, according to Brown, is that the disciple identified as John in the painting is actually Mary Magdalene. Indeed, if you take a quick look at the picture, it seems that this is really the case. The man depicted to the right of Jesus has long hair and smooth skin, which could be seen as feminine characteristics, compared to the rest of the apostles, who look a little rougher and appear older. Brown also points out that Jesus and the figure on his right hand together form the outline of the letter "M". Does this symbolize Mary or perhaps the wife (Matrimony in English for marriage, matrimony)? Are these the keys to secret knowledge left behind by Leonardo?

Despite the first impression that this figure in the picture looks more feminine, the question remains whether this figure also looked feminine to viewers of the era in which Leonardo painted this painting. Probably not. After all, John was considered the youngest of the disciples, and he was often depicted as a beardless youth with soft features and long hair. Today one can regard this person as a female being, but if you go back to Florence, in the fifteenth century, take into account the difference in cultures and expectations, try to delve into the ideas of those times about the feminine and masculine principles - you can no longer be sure that this is actually a woman . Leonardo was not the only artist who depicted John in this way. Domenico Ghirlandaio and Andrea del Castagno wrote John in a similar way in their paintings:

"The Last Supper" by Domenico Ghirlandaio

In his Treatise on Painting, Leonardo explains that characters in a painting should be depicted based on their types. These types can be: "sage" or "crone". Each type has its own characteristics, for example: beard, wrinkles, short or long hair. John, as in the photo, at the Last Supper, represents the student type: a protege who has not yet matured. Artists of the era, including Leonardo, would have depicted this type, the "student", as a very young man with soft features. This is exactly what we see in the picture.

Regarding the outline of the "M" in the picture, this is a result of the way the artist composed the picture. Jesus, at the moment when he announces his betrayal, sits alone in the center of the picture, his body shaped like a pyramid, the disciples arranged in groups on either side of him. Leonardo often used the pyramid shape in the compositions of his works.

PRIORITY OF SION.

There are suggestions that Leonardo was the leader of a secret group called the Priory of Sion. According to the Da Vinci Code, the Priory's mission was to preserve Mary Magdalene's secret about her marriage to Jesus. But The Da Vinci Code is fiction, based on theories from a controversial "non-fiction" book called Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by Richard Lee, Michael Baigent and Henry Lincoln, written in the early 1980s.

The book Holy Blood and Holy Grail, as evidence of Leonardo's membership in the Priory of Sion, cites a number of documents that are stored in the National Library of France in Paris. While there is some evidence that an order of monks with this name existed as early as 1116 AD. e., and this medieval group has nothing in common with the Priory of Sion of the 20th century, but the years of da Vinci’s life: 1452 - 1519.

There are indeed documents confirming the existence of the Priory, but it is likely that they are part of a hoax conceived by a man named Pierre Plantard in the 1950s. Plantard and a group of like-minded right-wingers with anti-Semitic tendencies founded the Priory in 1956. By producing false documents, including forged genealogical tables, Plantard apparently hoped to prove that he was a Merovingian descendant and heir to the French throne. A document allegedly indicating that Leonardo, along with such luminaries as Botticelli, Isaac Newton and Hugo, were members of the Priory of Sion organization - with a high probability, may also be fake.

It is unclear whether Pierre Plantard also tried to perpetuate the story of Mary Magdalene. He is known to have claimed that the Priory possessed the treasure. Not a set of priceless documents, as in the Da Vinci Code, but a list of sacred objects written on a copper scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the 50s. Plantard told interviewers that the Priory would return the treasure to Israel when "the time is right." Experts' opinions on this matter are divided: some believe that there is no scroll, some believe that it is fake, and some that it is real, but does not rightfully belong to the Priory.

The fact that Leonardo da Vinci was not a member of a secret society, as shown in The Da Vinci Code, is not a reason to stop admiring his talent. The inclusion of this historical figure in modern fiction is intriguing, but in no way detracts from his achievements. His artistic works have been an inspiration to millions for centuries and contain subtleties that even the best experts are still trying to unravel. Moreover, his experiments and inventions characterize him as a progressive thinker whose research goes far beyond the scope of his contemporaries. The main secret of Leonardo da Vinci is that he was a genius, but at that time not many people could understand this.