Magdalene at the Last Supper. The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. How many years did Leonardo da Vinci write "The Last Supper"

Painting or fresco. Many call the Last Supper a painting, but officially it is called a fresco. For those readers who do not understand the difference well, we will tell you exactly how these two types of works of fine art differ from each other.

The Last Supper is not actually a fresco, don't look at the official name. Leonardo da Vinci wrote it on a dry surface, and he had his own reasons for this. The fresco must be painted quickly enough, until the plaster dries, and the master did not want to rush.

We will not talk for a long time about the plot, the last meal of Jesus Christ. Jesus is in the center of the picture, 12 apostles around him. Jesus informs his disciples that one of them will betray him. We will tell you in detail about what to look for when examining a painting at the end of this article.

Those of the tourists who tried to find information about the Last Supper in English or Italian noticed that this work is called in a completely different way. Only in our language does it have such a beautiful name. In other European languages, it is called more simply - “Last Supper”. "Last super" - in English or "L" Ultima Cena" - in Italian. These names will come in handy for you when buying tickets online.

Ticket problem.

After the release of the film “The Da Vinci Code”, the popularity of this attraction has increased greatly and still does not subside. Tourists are allowed inside strictly for 15 minutes and a limited group of 25 people. It is not always possible to buy tickets at the box office; during the peak season in summer, tickets may not be available for a week in advance. In winter, the situation is much better, tickets can usually be bought for an excursion on the current day.

You can book tickets in advance online. There are several sites where this can be done. All of them do not have Russian-language versions, only Italian and English.

The first site - vivaticket.it is distinguished by affordable prices. The ticket costs only 11.5 euros, including guide services. But on this site you will have to register to buy a ticket, and this procedure is not easy.

The second site - www.milan-museum.com allows you to buy tickets without registration, but you still have to enter your contact details and credit card details. The minimum ticket price on this site is 23.5 euros.

The third site - www.tickitaly.com is even more expensive, but it is also the most understandable and convenient. Tickets are the easiest to buy here, but they cost from 33 euros.

In any case, you will be sent a voucher, which you will need to print and present at the box office, in exchange for it you will receive a ticket.

What to look for when you get inside.

The second thing to pay attention to is the face of Christ himself. He knows his fate, his expression is nothing like fear. It was on this face that Leonardo da Vinci worked the most.

And, of course, you should pay attention to the faces of the apostles. They are confused, everyone is asking Jesus if he is a traitor. Many have fear or surprise on their faces.

Another interesting detail is at the bottom of the picture, right below Christ. This is part of the doorway, which was made here after the fresco was badly destroyed from time to time.

There are three Last Suppers in the world.

In the monastery of Santa Maria del Grazie in Milan, there is an original brush by Leonardo da Vinci himself. In fact, there is little left of the strokes of the master himself. Since the artist painted on a dry surface, after 20 years the Last Supper began to collapse, and after 60 years the figures were already hard to distinguish.

In Italy, a doorway was made in their place, but they, of course, remained on the copies. One of these copies is in London at the Royal Academy of Arts. The second copy can be seen in Switzerland in the church of St. Ambrogio.

We wish you a successful visit to Milan and an interesting inspection of the Last Supper fresco. Read about other places of interest in Italy in our articles ( links below).

Encyclopedic YouTube

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✪ Leonardo da Vinci, "The Last Supper"

✪ LEONARDO da VINCI. "The Last Supper". bible story

✪ About "Last Supper" by Leonardo Da Vinci

✪ Leonardo da Vinci, Christ and Magdalene.AVI

✪ The Last Supper (1495-1498) - Leonardo da Vinci

Subtitles

We are in the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie, in Milan. Before us is "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci. We are in the room where the monks had a meal - in the refectory. Thus, several times a day they came here and ate silently, having the opportunity to contemplate Leonardo's Last Supper. Of course, this is the perfect place for this story. And far from unusual. Let's talk about the plot. During his last supper, Christ informs his twelve apostles, "One of you will betray me." And one of the frequent readings of this image is the reaction of the apostles to his words. That is, not the actual utterance of these words by Christ, but the moment after, the reaction of the apostles. These are his closest followers. And so for them, his words are a terrible shock. We see the whirlpool of emotions of the apostles sitting at the table. This is one way of interpreting the fresco, but there is another aspect of reading. Which, in a sense, is even more significant. We see that Christ stretches out his hands to the cup of wine and bread. This is the embodiment of the mystery. This is an interpretation of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Holy Communion, when Christ says: “Take my bread, this is My Body. Take wine, this is My Blood. And remember Me." We see how he holds out his hands to the bread and wine. But what is remarkable: the palm of Christ is wide open, so that it seems as if he, stretching out his hand to the wine, at the same time, stretches it to the plate. At the same time Judas reaches out to her. Judas is the one who is going to betray Christ. The Romans paid him 30 pieces of silver for the betrayal. It can be seen how he clutches a bag of money in his right hand, recoiling from Christ. His face is hidden in shadow. He moves away and at the same time holds out his hand to the plate. This is just one of the signs of Christ's definition of a traitor: a person who shares and eats food with him. This is interesting, since the history of the study of this work, in fact, comes down to what exactly the moment is depicted here. But I think that all these moments are captured here. And the apostles are perceived as reacting both to the words of Christ “one of you will betray me”, and to the words “take my bread, this is My Body, take the wine, this is My Blood”. So, Leonardo depicts several moments of this story and, at the same time, conveys a sense of the Divine, eternal, the significance of this whole story. It is impossible to make a mistake about who these 13 people are at dinner. We know for sure that this is the Last Supper. We recognize the importance of this moment without any of the symbols of the divine that were present in the Early Renaissance, such as the halo. The images themselves are majestic in this space. They are close together, which conveys the energy and confusion surrounding the perfection, significance and geometric shape of Christ. Right. The image of Christ forms an equilateral triangle. His head is the center of the circle. The window against which she is depicted is perceived as a halo. The center of the picture is a source of calm. And beyond it - human beings with all their shortcomings, fears, worries - around the divine center. This is Leonardo da Vinci - a mathematician, a scientist who thinks about merging everything he depicts into a single whole. If we compare the early images of the Last Supper, a spacious table is drawn there, the room is richly decorated. And Leonardo simplifies everything as much as possible and focuses on the characters, their gestures. He leaves no free space at the table, the whole place is occupied by the figures themselves, the table separates our space from Christ and the apostles. There is no way we can become part of this space. As such, they have no way of getting into our space. There is a clear line. In the versions of the Last Supper that Leonardo may have seen in Florence, Judas is seated on the opposite side of the table. Having planted Judas in a row with other apostles, the artist turns the table into a border between our world and the world of the apostles. Let's look at their faces: the face of Christ is peaceful, his gaze is lowered, one hand is raised, the other is down. On the right is a group of three people, among them Judas, he turns away from us into the shadows. His neck is turned, which reminds us of his imminent self-hanging. He withdraws, and Saint Peter, the defender of Christ, rushes to Christ. He has a knife that he holds behind his back. He seems to ask: who is this? I need to protect you. The third figure in this trio with Judas and Peter seems to be Saint John, who looks very humbly, his eyes are closed. This is traditional for depicting the Last Supper. My favorite trio are the extreme figures on the right. Da Vinci was especially interested in expressing the soul through the body, showing the inner nature. He creates these four triples, it binds the images together, they seem to overlap each other, creating an intensity of passion. Creating tension and contrast between the emotional response of these images. Here is an incredible group where the gesture of Thomas points upwards. As if saying: isn't this predetermined by the Creator? Isn't it planned by the Lord for one of us to betray you? However, of course, this pointing finger is an omen of the crucifixion of Christ, immersed in his wound. We also see Philip and James Zebedee. They are in opposition: one spread his arms wide, the other brings them together. And when compared with early images of the Last Supper, you can see that there is a distance between the figures. And here is the idea of ​​a unified composition, so characteristic of the High Renaissance. But what is most tangible, in my opinion, is the divine essence of Christ. His serenity. All lines of perspective converge on it. It is noteworthy that the line of perspective conveyed by the artist slightly diverges from the line of perspective of the viewer. That is, you need to be at the level of Christ in order to observe this fresco in the correct perspective. Interestingly, in a sense, the picture lifts the one who looks at it. We would have to raise ourselves 10-15 feet off the ground for the perspective to be perfect. Thus, we are in the presence of the Divine in the center, which is transmitted in various ways. Do not forget that in 1498 people saw the picture in a different way. The painting is in a terrible state, in part because Leonardo experimented with combining oil paint and tempera in a setting where fresco was traditionally used. The image began to deteriorate shortly after its completion. Yes, unlike the traditional fresco, which was laid on wet plaster, Leonardo painted on dry. The paint was not able to firmly fix on the wall. Luckily for us, the painting was saved. So, in a way, this is the perfect representation of the High Renaissance style. This is an attempt to create a sense of the eternal and perfect in the chaos of human life. Right. A fusion of the earthly and the divine. Subtitles by the Amara.org community

General information

The size of the image is approximately 460 × 880 cm, it is located in the refectory of the monastery, on the back wall. The theme is traditional for this kind of premises. The opposite wall of the refectory is covered with a fresco by another master; Leonardo also put his hand to it.

The painting was commissioned by Leonardo from his patron, Duke Lodovico Sforza and his wife Beatrice d'Este. The coat of arms of Sforza is painted on the lunettes above the painting, formed by a ceiling with three arches. The painting was begun in 1495 and completed in 1498; work was intermittent. The date of commencement of work is not exact, since "the archives of the monastery were destroyed, and an insignificant part of the documents that we have dated 1497, when the painting was almost completed" .

Three early copies of the mural are known to exist, presumably by Leonardo's assistant.

The painting became a milestone in the history of the Renaissance: the correctly reproduced depth of perspective changed the direction of development of Western painting.

Technique

Leonardo painted The Last Supper on a dry wall, not on wet plaster, so the painting is not a fresco in the true sense of the word. The fresco must not be altered while working, and Leonardo decided to cover the stone wall with a layer of resin, gab, and mastic, and then paint on this layer with tempera.

Figures depicted

The apostles are depicted in groups of three, located around the figure of Christ sitting in the center. Groups of apostles, from left to right:

• Bartholomew, Jacob Alfeev and Andrei;
• Judas Iscariot (dressed in green and blue), Peter and John;
• Thomas, James  Zebedee and Philip;
• Matthew, Judas, Thaddeus and Simon.

In the 19th century, Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks with the names of the apostles were found; before that, only Judas, Peter, John, and Christ had been identified with certainty.

Painting analysis

It is believed that the work depicts the moment when Jesus utters the words that one of the apostles will betray him (" and as 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 images of the last supper of that time, Leonardo places those seated at the table on one side of it so that the viewer can see their faces. Most previous writings on the subject have excluded Judas by placing him alone on the opposite side of the table to that of the other eleven apostles and Jesus, or by depicting all the apostles except Judas with a halo. Judas clutches a small pouch in his hand, possibly representing the silver he received for betraying Jesus, or being an allusion to his role among the twelve apostles as treasurer. He was the only one who put his elbow on the table. The knife in Peter's hand, pointing away from Christ, may refer the viewer to the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane during the detention of Christ.

The 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 as him. Judas reaches for the dish, not noticing that Jesus also stretches out his right hand to him. At the same time, Jesus points to bread and wine, which symbolize the sinless body and shed blood, respectively.

The figure of Jesus is located and illuminated in such a way that the viewer's attention is drawn primarily to him. The head of Jesus is at the vanishing point for all perspective lines.

The painting contains repeated references to the number three:

• the apostles sit in groups of three;
• behind Jesus are three windows;
• the contours of the figure of Christ resemble a triangle.

The light illuminating the whole scene does not come from the windows painted on the back, but comes from the left, like the real light from the window on the left wall.

In many places of the picture there is a golden section; for example, where Jesus and John, who is on his right, put their hands, the canvas is divided in this ratio.

Damage and restorations

Already in 1517, the paint of the painting began to peel off due to moisture. In 1556, biographer Leonardo Vasari described the mural as badly damaged and so deteriorated that the figures were almost unrecognisable. In 1652, a doorway was made through the painting, later bricked up; it is still visible in the middle of the base of the mural. Early copies suggest that Jesus' feet were in a position that symbolized the impending crucifixion. In 1668, a curtain was hung over the painting for protection; instead, it blocked the evaporation of moisture from the surface, and when the curtain was pulled back, it scratched the peeling paint.

The first restoration was undertaken in 1726 by Michelangelo Belotti, who filled in the missing spots with oil paint and then varnished the fresco. This restoration did not last long, and another was undertaken in 1770 by Giuseppe Mazza. Mazza cleaned Belotti's work, and then thoroughly rewrote the painting: he rewrote all but three of the faces, and then had to stop work due to public outrage. In 1796, French troops used the refectory as an armory; they threw stones at the painting and climbed ladders to gouge out the eyes of the apostles. Then the refectory was used as a prison. In 1821, Stefano Barezzi, known for his ability to remove frescoes from walls with extreme care, was invited to move the painting to a safer place; he severely damaged the center section before realizing that Leonardo's work was not a fresco. Barezzi attempted to reattach the damaged areas with glue. From 1901 to 1908, Luigi Cavenaghi was the first to conduct a thorough study of the structure of the painting, and then Cavenaghi began to clear it. In 1924, Oreste Silvestri carried out further clearing and stabilized some parts with plaster.

During the Second World War, on August 15, 1943, the refectory was bombed. Sandbags prevented bomb fragments from hitting the mural, but vibration could have had a detrimental effect.

In 1951-1954, Mauro Pellicioli carried out another restoration with clearing and stabilization.

Criticism

Most artists (Leonardo da Vinci, Tintoretto, etc.) depict the apostles sitting on chairs, which does not correspond to Eastern, Palestinian traditions, and only Alexander Ivanov depicted sitting truthfully - sitting in an oriental way.

Main restoration

In the 1970s, the painting looked badly destroyed. From 1978 to 1999, under the leadership of Pinin Brambilla Barchilon, a massive restoration project was carried out, the purpose of which was to permanently stabilize the painting and get rid of the damage caused by pollution and improper restorations of the 18th and 19th centuries. Since it seemed impractical to move the mural to a quieter environment, the refectory itself was turned into such an environment, sealed and climate controlled, for which the windows had to be walled up. A detailed study was then carried out to determine the original form of the mural, using infrared reflectoscopy and examination of core samples, as well as the original cardboards from the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. Some areas were deemed beyond restoration. They were repainted in muted watercolors to show, without distracting the viewer's attention, that they are not an original work.

The restoration took 21 years. On May 28, 1999, the painting was opened for viewing. Visitors must book tickets in advance and can only spend 15 minutes in the refectory. When the fresco was inaugurated, heated debate arose over the strong change in colors, tones and even ovals of the faces of several figures. James Beck, professor of art history at Columbia University and founder of ArtWatch International, was particularly stern in his assessment of the work.

In popular culture

• The painting is shown in the documentary series “Life after people” - in a quarter of a century, many elements of the painting will be erased over time, and in 60 years 15 percent of the paint will remain without people from the fresco, and even then they will be overgrown with moss.
• In the video for the song "Tits" by the Leningrad group, there is a scene where a parody of the picture is shown.
• The video for the song "HUMBLE" by Kendrick Lamar also features a parody of the painting.
• At the end of the fifty-fifth minute (54 minutes 48 seconds) of the film directed by Norman Juison "Jesus Christ - Superstar" during the beginning of the performance of the part of Jesus in the track "Gethsemane", the actors freeze in the frame for a few seconds, repeating the location of Christ and the apolstles on the mural (without observing the above order of the apostles, found in the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci). The shot ends with the first words of Jesus' part: "The end is just a little...".

If we talk about the monuments of art and culture of world significance, one cannot fail to mention the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. And, undoubtedly, one of the most famous is his work "The Last Supper". Someone claims that God's spark inspired the master to write it, and someone insists that for the sake of such skill he sold his soul to the devil. But one thing is undeniable - the skill and thoroughness with which the artist recreated all the nuances of the scene from the Gospel, still remain an unattainable dream for most painters.

So what secrets does this image hide? Read and find out!

The scene of Christ's last supper with his disciples

History of the painting

Leonardo da Vinci received an order to write The Last Supper from his patron, Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza. This happened in 1495, and the reason was the death of the ruler's wife, the modest and pious Beatrice d'Este. During her lifetime, the famous womanizer Sforza neglected communication with his wife for the sake of entertainment with friends, but still loved her in his own way. The annals note that after the death of his lady, he declared a fifteen-day mourning, praying in his chambers and not leaving them for a minute. And after this period had expired, he ordered the court painter (who at that time was Leonardo) a painting in memory of the deceased.

The fresco is located in the Dominican church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Its writing lasted for three whole years (whereas it usually took about three months to complete such a picture) and was completed only in 1498. The reason for this was the unusually large size of the work (460 × 880 cm) and the innovative technique used by the master.

Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Milan

Leonardo da Vinci did not paint on wet plaster, but on dry plaster, in order to be able to see colors and details. In addition, he used not only oil paints, but also tempera - a mixture of pigment and egg white - which also became the reason for the rapid deterioration of the work. The picture began to collapse already twenty years after the artist made the last stroke. Now, in order to preserve it for posterity, a whole range of special events is being carried out. If this is not done, the fresco will completely disappear after 60 years.

Master's idea

Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper depicts one of the most famous and touching episodes in the Gospel. According to theological calculations, it was she who opened the Lord's path to the cross, as to the last battle with evil and death. At that moment, Christ's love for humanity manifested itself clearly and visibly - He sacrificed the divine light in order to go into death and darkness. Having shared the bread with the disciples, the Lord thereby joined each of us, left His testament. But at the same time, someone may reject this possibility - after all, God is not only love, but also freedom, and this is demonstrated by the act of Judas.

In order to adequately convey this deep and significant scene in colors, Leonardo did a significant preparatory work. As stated in the notes of his contemporaries, he walked the streets of Milan in search of sitters. The master made them laugh, upset and surprised, watched how people quarrel and make peace, confess their love and part - in order to reflect this later in his work. That is why all participants in the Last Supper on the fresco are endowed with individuality, their expression, posture and mood.

The first sketches of the Last Supper. Located in the Venice Academy

In addition, the painter abandoned the traditional icon-painting canons in favor of a realistic and natural image. At that time, writing Jesus and the apostles without the usual crowns, halos and mandorlas (golden radiance around the entire figure) was a rather bold idea, which was even criticized by some priests. But after the completion of the work, everyone unanimously recognized that it was better to convey the divine meal to no one else.

Secrets of the painting The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci

It is known that da Vinci was not only a famous artist, but also an inventor, engineer, anatomist, scientist, and some even attribute to him a connection with various mystical societies, of which there were quite a lot in Europe in the 15th century. Therefore, thanks to the skill of their creator, the works of Leonardo da Vinci also carry a certain touch of mystery and mystery. And it is precisely around the Last Supper that there are extremely many such prejudices and hoaxes. So, what secrets did the creator encrypt?

According to historians studying the creative heritage of the Renaissance, the most difficult thing was for the master to write Jesus and Judas Iscariot. The Lord was supposed to appear before the audience as the embodiment of kindness, love and piety, while Judas was to become his opposite, a dark antagonist. It is not surprising that da Vinci could not find suitable sitters. But one day during a divine service, he saw a young singer in the church choir - his young face was so spiritual and impeccable that the painter immediately realized that this particular person could become a type of Christ. But even after his figure was painted, the artist corrected and corrected him for a long time, trying to achieve perfection.

The prototype of Judas and Jesus, Leonardo drew from one sitter, not knowing about it

It remains to portray only Iscariot - and again Leonardo could not find the right person. He went to the dirtiest and most neglected districts of Milan, wandering for hours in low-class taverns and ports, trying to find someone whose face would serve as a suitable model. And finally, luck smiled at him - in a roadside ditch he saw a drunken man. The artist ordered to take him to the church and, not even allowing him to wake up from intoxication, began to capture the image. After finishing the work, the drunkard said that he had already seen her once, and even participated - only that time they wrote Christ from him ... According to contemporaries, this proved how thin the line between a prosperous life and a fall - and how easy it is to transgress!

It is also interesting that the rector of the church in which the fresco was located often distracted Leonardo da Vinci, pointing out that he should work harder, and not stand for hours in front of the image - and even more so not wander around the city in search of sitters! Finally, the painter was so tired of it that one day he promised the abbot that he would paint Judas with his face if he did not immediately stop commanding and pointing!

Disciple or Mary Magdalene?

There are still discussions about who Leonardo da Vinci depicted in the picture to the left of the Savior. According to some art historians, the gentle, graceful face of this character simply cannot belong to a man, which means that the artist introduced Mary Magdalene, one of the women who followed the Shepherd, into the plot. Some go even further, suggesting that she was the lawful wife of Jesus Christ. Confirmation of this is found in the arrangement of the figures on the fresco - leaning towards each other, they form a stylized letter "M", meaning "Matrimonio" - marriage. Other researchers do not agree with this, assuring that the outlines of bodies can only be combined into the letter "V" - da Vinci's initials.

Jesus and Mary Magdalene on the Last Supper fresco

But there are other confirmations that Magdalene was the wife of Christ. So, in the Gospel you can see references to how she washed His feet with the world and wiped them with her hair (John 12:3), and only a woman who was legally married to a man could do this. In addition, some apocrypha claim that at the time of the crucifixion of the Lord on Calvary, Mary was pregnant, and her daughter Sarah, born to her, became the progenitor of the French royal Merovingian dynasty.

Placement of figures and objects

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci is distinguished not only by the realism and liveliness of human figures - the master carefully worked out the surrounding space, cutlery, and even the landscape. Each feature of the work contains a coded message.

For example, scientists have found that the order in which the figures of the apostles are located on the fresco is not at all accidental - it corresponds to the sequence of the zodiac circle. So, if you follow this pattern, you can see that Jesus Christ was a capricorn - a symbol of moving forward, to new heights and achievements, spiritual development. This sign is identified with Saturn - the deity of time, fate and harmony.

But the mysterious figure next to the Savior, which has already been mentioned above, is located under the sign of the Virgin. This is another proof in favor of the fact that the master showed Mary Magdalene in the picture.

Amber icon "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci

It is interesting to study the arrangement of objects on the table. In particular, near the hand of Judas, you can see an inverted salt shaker (which was already considered a sign in those days, portending trouble), and besides, his plate is empty. This is a sign that he could not accept the grace bestowed by the coming of the Lord, rejected His gift.

Even the fish served to the diners serves as a reason for disputes. Art critics have long argued what exactly Leonardo depicted. Some say that this is a herring - its Italian name, "aringa", is consonant with "arringare" - teaching, preaching, instruction. But according to others, it is an eel - in the dialect of Eastern Italy it is called "anguilla", which for Italians sounds like "one who rejects religion."

During its existence, the fresco has been under the threat of destruction more than once. So, during World War II, an artillery shell that flew into the window of the church disfigured and partially destroyed all the walls - with the exception of the one where the work was written!

The famous picture still exists - and opens up more and more mysteries before us, the solution of which is yet to be solved. In the meantime, you can admire numerous copies and reproductions made from a variety of materials. For example, The Last Supper from amber, poured out of semi-precious crumbs and inlaid with large stones, is simply amazing - it combines masterful execution and the mystery of the original!

Plot

The Last Supper is the last meal of Jesus Christ with 12 disciples. That evening, Jesus established the sacrament of the Eucharist, which consisted in the consecration of bread and wine, preached about humility and love. The key event of the evening is the prediction of the betrayal of one of the students.

"The Last Supper". (wikimedia.org)

The closest associates of Jesus - those same apostles - are depicted in groups around Christ, sitting in the center. Bartholomew, Jacob Alfeev and Andrey; then Judas Iscariot, Peter and John; further Thomas, James Zebedee and Philip; and the last three are Matthew, Judas Thaddeus and Simon.

According to one version, on the right hand of Christ, the nearest is not John, but Mary Magdalene. If we follow this hypothesis, then her position indicates a marriage with Christ. This is supported by the fact that Mary Magdalene washed the feet of Christ and wiped them with her hair. Only a legal wife could do this.

Nikolai Ge "The Last Supper", 1863. (wikimedia.org)

It is not known exactly what moment of the evening Da Vinci wanted to portray. Probably the reaction of the apostles to the words of Jesus about the coming betrayal of one of the disciples. Christ's gesture serves as an argument: according to the prediction, the traitor will stretch out his hand to eat at the same time as God's son, and Judas turns out to be the only "candidate".

The images of Jesus and Judas were given to Leonardo more difficult than others. The artist could not find suitable models in any way. As a result, he wrote off Christ from a singer in a church choir, and Judas from a drunken vagabond, who, by the way, was also a singer in the past. There is even a version that Jesus and Judas were written off from the same person at different periods of his life.

Context

For the end of the 15th century, when the fresco was created, the reproduced depth of perspective was a revolution that changed the direction of development of Western painting. To be precise, The Last Supper is, rather, not a fresco, but a painting. The fact is that technically it is made on a dry wall, and not on wet plaster, as is the case with frescoes. This was done by Leonardo so that you can correct the images. The fresco technique does not give the author the right to make a mistake.

Da Vinci received an order from his regular client, Duke Lodovico Sforza. The wife of the latter, Beatrice d'Este, who patiently endured her husband's unbridled love of libertines, eventually died suddenly. "The Last Supper" was a kind of last will of the deceased.

Lodovico Sforza. (wikimedia.org)

Less than 20 years after the creation of the fresco, as due to humidity, Da Vinci's work began to crumble. After another 40 years, it was almost impossible to recognize the figures. Apparently, contemporaries were not particularly worried about the fate of the work. On the contrary, in every possible way, voluntarily or involuntarily, they only worsened his condition. So, in the middle of the XVII century, when the churchmen needed a passage in the wall, they made it in such a way that Jesus lost his legs. Later, the opening was bricked up, but the legs could not be returned.

The French king Francis I was so impressed with the work that he seriously thought about transporting it to his home. And during World War II, the fresco miraculously survived - a shell that hit the church building destroyed everything except the wall with the work of Da Vinci.

Santa Maria delle Grazie. (wikimedia.org)

"The Last Supper" has repeatedly tried to restore, however, not particularly successful. As a result, by the 1970s, it became obvious that it was time to act decisively, otherwise the masterpiece would be lost. For 21 years, a tremendous amount of work has been done. Today, visitors to the refectory have only 15 minutes to contemplate the masterpiece, and tickets, of course, must be bought ahead of time.

One of the geniuses of the Renaissance, a universal man, was born near Florence, a place where at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries cultural, political and economic life was extremely rich. Thanks to the families of patrons (such as the Sforza and the Medici), who generously paid for art, Leonardo could create freely.

Da Vinci statue in Florence. (wikimedia.org)

Da Vinci was not a highly educated person. But his notebooks allow us to speak of him as a genius, whose range of interests was extremely wide. Painting, sculpture, architecture, engineering, anatomy, philosophy. And so on and so forth. And the most important thing here is not the number of hobbies, but the degree of involvement in them. Da Vinci was an innovator. His progressive thought turned the views of his contemporaries upside down and set a new vector for the development of culture.

Truly, there is no secret in the world that someday would not become obvious, for manuscripts do not burn. And we continue to debunk one of the most shameless historical myths about the name defamed by the Christian Church Mary Magdalene. Recently, the coverage of this topic has become of fundamental importance for us, because Rigden Dzhappo himself speaks of her and her “great feat” with great respect, in which we will definitely come later, as evidenced by the book Sensei 4. Primordial Shambhala"materials describing the completely unknown history of this mysterious and beautiful woman. Very soon, in the section "Indigenous Knowledge", we will lay out the detailed content of this priceless, in our opinion, literary work.

In the meantime, following the article "One of the mysteries of Mary Magdalene, beloved disciple of Jesus Christ", we continue to search for the truth that is inconvenient for the official Church, trying to figure out what and why have been hidden from us - ordinary people for thousands of years, so what can you do, we have to to speak directly, the so-called "clerics". Having received the Keys-Knowledge, doors and eyes "open" before any person, he begins to see the surrounding reality from a radically different angle of view, and first of all, it becomes incomprehensible to him why these people call themselves "priests" and hide so many secrets? If a person knew the truth, a lot in this world could change, and we are convinced, for the better for people.

Today we turn to the monumental painting of Leonardo da Vinci " The Last Supper", depicting the scene of the last supper of Jesus Christ with the disciples. It was written in the years 1495-1498 in the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. The reason for our conversion in it? Like many open-minded biblical students, we became very interested, why it is clearly seen that there is a woman next to Jesus , while the Church for thousands of years has been strongly convincing to believe in the version - about a certain apostle John, from whose pen came the fourth, one of the canonical Gospels "from John the Theologian", - the "beloved disciple" of the Savior.

So let's look at the original first:

Location

Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy.

"The Last Supper" (official information, according to Wikipedia)

General information

The size of the image is approximately 460 × 880 cm, it is located in the refectory of the monastery, on the back wall. The theme is traditional for this kind of premises. The opposite wall of the refectory is covered with a fresco by another master; Leonardo also put his hand to it.

Technique

He painted The Last Supper on a dry wall, not on wet plaster, so the painting is not a fresco in the true sense of the word. A fresco cannot be changed while it is being painted, and Leonardo decided to cover the stone wall with a layer of resin, gab and mastic, and then paint on this layer with tempera. Due to the chosen method, the painting began to collapse within a few years after the end of the work.

Figures depicted

The apostles are depicted in groups of three, located around the figure of Christ sitting in the center. Groups of apostles, from left to right:

Bartholomew, Jacob Alfeev and Andrey;
Judas Iscariot (dressed in green and blue) , Peter and John (?);
Thomas, James Zebedee and Philip;
Matthew, Judas Thaddeus and Simon.

In the 19th century, Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks with the names of the apostles were found; before that, only Judas, Peter, John, and Christ had been identified with certainty.

Painting analysis

It is believed that the work depicts the moment when Jesus utters the words that one of the apostles will betray him ("and when they were eating, he said: Truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me"), and the reaction of each of them. As in other images of the last supper of that time, Leonardo places those seated at the table on one side of it so that the viewer can see their faces. Most previous writings on the subject have excluded Judas by placing him alone on the opposite side of the table to that of the other eleven apostles and Jesus, or by depicting all the apostles except Judas with a halo. Judas clutches a small pouch in his hand, possibly representing the silver he received for betraying Jesus, or being an allusion to his role among the twelve apostles as treasurer. He was the only one who put his elbow on the table. The knife in Peter's hand, pointing away from Christ, may refer the viewer to the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane during the detention of Christ. The gesture of Jesus can be interpreted in two ways. According to the Bible, Jesus predicts that his betrayer will stretch out his hand to eat at the same time as him. Judas reaches for the dish, not noticing that Jesus also stretches out his right hand to him. At the same time, Jesus points to bread and wine, which symbolize the sinless body and shed blood, respectively.
The figure of Jesus is located and illuminated in such a way that the viewer's attention is drawn primarily to him. The head of Jesus is at the vanishing point for all perspective lines.
The painting contains repeated references to the number three:

The apostles sit in groups of three;
behind Jesus are three windows;
the contours of the figure of Christ resemble a triangle.

The light illuminating the whole scene does not come from the windows painted on the back, but comes from the left, like the real light from the window on the left wall. In many places of 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.

"The Last Supper. Mary Magdalene sits next to Christ!" (Lynn Picknett, Clive Prince. "Leonardo da Vinci and the Brotherhood of Zion")

(a book that deserves attention due to its sober analytical view)

There is one of the most famous - immortal - works of art in the world. The Last Supper fresco by Leonardo da Vinci is the only surviving painting in the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria del Grazia. It is made on a wall that was left standing after the entire building was reduced to rubble by Allied bombing during World War II. Although other remarkable artists, Nicolas Poussin and even such an idiosyncratic author as Salvador Dali, presented their versions of this biblical scene to the world, it is the creation of Leonardo that, for some reason, strikes the imagination more than any other canvas. Variants on this theme can be seen everywhere, and they cover the whole spectrum of attitudes to the theme: from worship to ridicule.

Sometimes the image looks so familiar that it is practically not considered in detail, although it is open to the eyes of any viewer and requires more careful consideration: its true deep meaning remains a closed book, and the viewer glides only on its cover.

It was this work of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) - the suffering genius of Renaissance Italy - that showed us the path that led to discoveries so exciting in their consequences that at first they seemed incredible. It is impossible to understand why generations of scholars did not notice what was available to our astonished eye, why such explosive information patiently waited all this time for writers like us, remained outside the mainstream of historical or religious research and was not discovered.

To be consistent, we must return to The Last Supper and look at it with a fresh, unbiased eye. Now is not the time to consider it in the light of familiar notions of history and art. Now the moment has come when the view of a person who is completely unfamiliar with this so well-known scene will be more appropriate - let the veil of prejudice fall from our eyes, let us look at the picture in a new way.

The central figure is, of course, Jesus, whom Leonardo, in his notes on this work, calls the Savior. He looks thoughtfully down and slightly to his left, hands stretched out on the table in front of him, as if offering the viewer the gifts of the Last Supper. Since it was then, according to the New Testament, that Jesus introduced the sacrament of Communion by offering the disciples bread and wine as his "flesh" and "blood", the viewer has the right to expect that there should be a cup or goblet of wine on the table in front of him in order for the gesture to look justified. . Ultimately, for Christians, this supper immediately precedes the Passion of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he fervently prays "may this cup pass from me ..." - another association with the image of wine - blood - and holy blood was shed before the Crucifixion for the atonement of sins of all mankind. Nevertheless, there is no wine before Jesus (and even a symbolic amount of it on the whole table). Can these outstretched hands mean what in the lexicon of artists is called an empty gesture?

Given the lack of wine, it is perhaps no coincidence that, of all the loaves on the table, very few are "broken". Since Jesus himself associated with his flesh the bread to be broken at the supreme sacrament, is there not a subtle allusion to the true nature of Jesus' suffering?

However, all this is just the tip of the iceberg of heresy reflected in this picture. According to the Gospel, the Apostle John the Theologian was physically so close to Jesus during this Supper that he clung "to his chest." However, in Leonardo this young man does not occupy at all the same position as the “stage instructions” of the Gospel require, but, on the contrary, exaggeratedly deviated from the Savior, bowing his head to the right side. An unbiased viewer can be forgiven if he notices only these curious features in relation to a single image - the image of the Apostle John. But, although the artist, due to his own predilections, of course, was inclined towards the ideal of male beauty of a somewhat feminine type, there can be no other interpretation: at the moment we are looking at a woman. Everything about it is strikingly feminine. However old and faded the image may be due to the age of the fresco, one cannot help but notice the tiny, graceful hands, delicate features, clearly female breasts and a golden necklace. This is a woman, it is a woman, which is marked by a dress that makes her stand out. The clothes on her are a mirror image of the clothes of the Savior: if he is wearing a blue chiton and a red cloak, then she is wearing a red tunic and a blue cloak. None of those sitting at the table are wearing robes that are a mirror image of the clothes of Jesus. And there are no other women at the table.

Central to the composition is a huge, widened letter "M", which is formed by the figures of Jesus and this woman, taken together. They seem to be literally connected at the hips, but suffer due to the fact that they diverge or even grow from one point in different directions. As far as we know, none of the academicians has ever referred to this image other than "St. John", they did not notice the compositional form in the form of the letter "M". Leonardo, as we have established in our research, was a brilliant psychologist who laughed when he presented highly unorthodox images to his patrons who commissioned him a traditional biblical image, knowing that people would calmly and calmly look at the most monstrous heresy, since they usually see only what they want to see. If you are called to paint a Christian scene and present to the public something that at first glance seems similar and meets their wishes, people will never look for ambiguous symbolism.

At the same time, Leonardo had to hope that perhaps there were others who shared his unusual interpretation of the New Testament, who recognized the secret symbolism in the picture. Or someone, sometime, some objective observer, will one day understand the image of a mysterious woman associated with the letter "M", and ask questions that obviously follow from this. Who was this "M" and why is she so important? Why did Leonardo risk his reputation - even his life in the days when heretics were burning at the stake everywhere - to include it in the seminal Christian scene? Whoever she is, her fate cannot but be alarming as an outstretched hand cuts into her gracefully arched neck. The threat contained in this gesture cannot be doubted.

Raised right in front of the Savior's face, the index finger of the other hand, with obvious passion, threatens him himself. But both Jesus and "M" look like people who do not notice the threat, each of them is completely immersed in the world of his thoughts, each in his own way is serene and calm. But all together it looks as if the secret symbols were used not only to warn Jesus and the woman sitting next to him (?), but also to inform (or maybe remind) the observer of some information that would be dangerous to make public in any other way. Did Leonardo not use his creation to promulgate some special beliefs, which would be simply madness to proclaim in the usual way? And could these beliefs be a message addressed to a much wider circle, and not just to his inner circle? Maybe they were intended for us, for the people of our time?

The young apostle John or Mary Magdalene?

Let's get back to this amazing creation. In the fresco on the right, from the point of view of the observer, a tall, bearded man doubled over, telling something to a student sitting at the edge of the table. At the same time, he almost completely turned his back on the Savior. The model for the image of this student - St. Thaddeus or St. Jude - was Leonardo himself. Note that the image of the Renaissance artists, as a rule, is either accidental or made when the artist was a beautiful model. In this case, we are dealing with an example of the use of an image by an adherent of double entendre (double meaning). (He was preoccupied with finding the right model for each of the apostles, as can be seen from his rebellious offer to the most irate prior of St. Mary's to serve as a model for Judas.) So why did Leonardo portray himself so obviously turning his back on Jesus?

Moreover. An unusual hand aims a dagger at the stomach of a student sitting just one person from "M". This hand cannot belong to anyone sitting at the table, since such a bend is physically impossible for people who are next to the image of the hand to hold the dagger in this position. What is really striking, however, is not the very fact of the existence of a hand that does not belong to the body, but the absence in the works on Leonardo that we have read of any mention of this: although this hand is mentioned in a couple of works, the authors do not find anything unusual in it. As in the case of the apostle John, who looks like a woman, nothing could be more obvious - and more strange - if only to pay attention to this circumstance. But this irregularity most often escapes the attention of the observer, simply because this fact is extraordinary and outrageous.

We often hear that Leonardo was a devout Christian whose religious paintings reflect the depth of his faith. As we can see, in at least one of the paintings there are images that are very dubious from the point of view of an orthodox Christian. It has been established by our further investigations, as we shall show, that nothing can be so far from the truth as the idea that Leonardo was a true believer - that is, a believer according to the canons of a generally accepted or at least acceptable form of Christianity. Already by the curious anomalous features of one of his creations, we can see that he was trying to tell us about another layer of meanings in a familiar biblical scene, about another world of faith, hidden in the generally accepted images of wall paintings in Milan.

Whatever the meaning of these heretical irregularities - and the significance of this fact cannot be exaggerated - they were absolutely incompatible with the orthodox dogmas of Christianity. In itself, this is hardly news to many modern materialists/rationalists, since for them Leonardo was the first real scientist, a man who had no time for any superstition, a man who was the antithesis of all mysticism and occultism. But they could not understand what appeared before their eyes. Depicting the Last Supper without wine is tantamount to depicting the scene of the coronation without a crown: it turns out either nonsense, or the picture is filled with other content, and to such an extent that it represents the author as an absolute heretic - a person who has faith, but faith that contradicts the dogmas of Christianity. Maybe not just different, but in a state of struggle with the dogmas of Christianity. And in Leonardo's other works, we have found his own particular heretical tastes, expressed in carefully crafted appropriate scenes, which he would hardly have written in this way, being just an atheist earning his living. There are too many of these deviations and symbols to be interpreted as a mockery of a skeptic who is forced to work on order, and they cannot be called just antics, like, for example, the image of St. Peter with a red nose. What we see in The Last Supper and other works is the secret code of Leonardo da Vinci, which we believe has a striking connection with the modern world.

One can argue what Leonardo believed or did not believe in, but his actions were not just a whim of a man, undoubtedly extraordinary, whose whole life was full of paradoxes. He was closed, but at the same time the soul and life of society; he despised fortune-tellers, but his papers show large sums paid to astrologers; he was considered a vegetarian and had a tender love for animals, but his tenderness seldom extended to mankind; he zealously dissected corpses and watched the executions with the eyes of an anatomist, he was a deep thinker and a master of riddles, tricks and hoaxes.

With such a contradictory inner world, it is likely that Leonardo's religious and philosophical views were unusual, even strange. For this reason alone, it is tempting to dismiss his heretical beliefs as irrelevant to our modern times. It is generally accepted that Leonardo was an extremely gifted man, but the modern tendency to evaluate everything in terms of "epoch" leads to a significant underestimation of his achievements. After all, in those days when he was at the height of his creative powers, even printing was a novelty. What can one lone inventor living in such primitive times offer to a world that is bathed in an ocean of information via a global network, to a world that, in a matter of seconds, exchanges information via telephone and fax with continents not yet discovered in his time?

There are two answers to this question. First: Leonardo was not, to use the paradox, an ordinary genius. Most educated people know that he designed a flying machine and a primitive tank, but at the same time, some of his inventions were so out of character for the time in which he lived that people with an eccentric turn of mind can imagine that he was given a vision of the future. His bicycle design, for example, became known only in the late sixties of the twentieth century. In contrast to the painful trial-and-error evolution that the Victorian bicycle underwent, Leonardo da Vinci's road-eater already has two wheels and a chain drive in the first edition. But even more striking is not the design of the mechanism, but the question of the reasons that prompted to reinvent the wheel. Man has always wanted to fly like a bird, but the dream of balancing on two wheels and pushing the pedals, taking into account the deplorable state of the roads, already smacks of mysticism. (Recall, by the way, that, unlike the dream of flying, it does not appear in any of the classic stories.) Among many other statements about the future, Leonardo also predicted the appearance of the telephone.

Even if Leonardo were even more of a genius than the historical books say, the question still remains unanswered: what possible knowledge could he have if what he proposed found meaning or became widespread only five centuries after his time. One could, of course, argue that the teaching of a first-century preacher would seem to have even less relevance to our time, but the fact remains that some ideas are universal and eternal, that truth, found or formulated, does not cease to be truth after the lapse of centuries. ..

(to be continued)

"The Da Vinci Code" (scandalous novel by Dan Brown)

Particularly heated debate erupted in the world after the film adaptation of Dan Brown's scandalous novel " The Da Vinci Code where, among other things, he claims that Mary Magdalene was not only a beloved disciple of Jesus, but also a spouse, that is, a wife . The book has been translated into 44 languages ​​and has a total circulation of more than 81 million copies. The Da Vinci Code tops the New York Times bestseller list, and is considered by many to be the best book of the decade. The novel, written in the genre of an intellectual detective thriller, was able to arouse wide interest in the legend of the Holy Grail and the place of Mary Magdalene in the history of Christianity.

However, the Christian world reacted very sharply to the release of the book and film, Dan Brown's version was crushed by a thousand critical responses and remarks. One of the zealous ministers of religion put it most eloquently, calling even for a boycott of the film: "shrillly anti-Christian, full of slander, crimes and historical and theological errors regarding Jesus, the Gospel and a hostile church." However, discarding religious narrow-mindedness, one thing can be said for sure, none of the critics lived then, and cannot know the real history. It may be known by the one whose name is inscribed in the title of our site, and we will return to his words.

SKETCH OF "THE LAST SUPPER"

Well, now let's look at the workpiece by Leonardo Da Vinci, the surviving sketch for The Last Supper. The second figure on the left, in the top row, is clearly visible feminine outlines, smoother and lighter forms. Who is this if not a woman?

SUMMARY

Everyone sees what he wants to see, this is one of the mysterious laws of human consciousness. And if a person's consciousness believes that white is black, it will confidently prove its case. We were not present at the writing of the famous monumental painting of the brilliant artist, just as we were not present at the epochal events of the life of Jesus Christ, and therefore it would be fairer to end this article with the statement that we cannot know for sure whether this is John or Mary, however subjectively, in the picture Leonardo Da Vinci is a woman, and therefore none other than the beloved disciple of Jesus - Mary Magdalene. The opinion of the Church that the Apostle John the Theologian is in the picture is equally subjective. 50/50 - nothing more!!!

Prepared by Dato Gomarteli (Ukraine-Georgia)

PS: another reproduction, a photo of the Last Supper mosaic from St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, and again we see a woman: