Last Supper. Composition with lunettes
The Paris Olympics are over, but the public is still puzzled: what does the main image of the 2024 Games that the organizers showed at the opening ceremony mean? We are talking about a scene in which a parody reference to Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” can be guessed. The organizers justify themselves by saying that the strange monsters were the Olympian gods of ancient Greece. But you can’t fool us with straw… To be fair, the original itself, created by the hand of the great Florentine, is riddled with a huge number of secrets and mysteries, many of which have not yet been solved. Here are the main ones.
The Paris Olympics are over, but the public is still baffled: what does the main image of the 2024 Games mean?
Photo: screenshot from the video.
1. Apostle John or Mary Magdalene?
Look at the figure to the right of Jesus. Her eyes tell you that she is a young and beautiful woman, and her whole appearance exudes an inexpressible sadness. But this is none other than John the Theologian, according to the official version! This discrepancy between what was seen and what was said gave rise to the theory that Leonardo actually depicted Mary Magdalene. She was one of the few followers of Christ and the only one of all his disciples to be present at his crucifixion, burial and, furthermore, became the first witness to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
If so, then the question arises: why did Leonardo not only include a woman among the participants in the Last Supper, but also gave her the most honorable place – at the right hand of Christ? After all, in theory, the apostle Peter should have been located there – it was he whom Jesus called the rock on which the church would be built.
The writer Dan Brown, author of the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code, expressed the idea that The Last Supper is a coded message for descendants. According to Brown, Leonardo was the head of an order that kept one of the main secrets of Christianity: Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus and gave birth to a son from him. For some reason, the church hierarchs kept silent about Mary’s role as a wife and like-minded person. And da Vinci allegorically told this secret in the painting.
There are several good reasons why Leonardo could hardly have included Mary Magdalene among the participants of the Last Supper.
1. No gospel speaks of Mary’s presence at the farewell meal. But St. John is mentioned among those who shared bread and wine with Jesus. Leonardo was an extravagant man, but falsifying history was a thankless task even in those days.
2. “The Last Supper” Leonardo wrote for the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan on the orders of its patron, Duke Ludovico Sforza. Direct control over the execution of the work was exercised by the abbot of the monastery, whose refectory was painted by the artist. It is unlikely that he would have permitted such a free treatment of the Holy Scriptures, especially since any member of the brethren would have immediately drawn attention to the sacrilege.
3. The fresco was completed in 1498. That same autumn, Grand Inquisitor Thomas Torquemada moved to another world, during whose lifetime, according to some estimates, about 8,800 people were burned at the stake and more than 27,000 were tortured. But the cause of the prominent fanatic lived on and triumphed. In Italy, it was not safe either. 50 years later, Pope Paul II opened a branch of the Holy Inquisition in Rome, the most famous victim of this institution would be Giordano Bruno in 1600. It would be the height of temerity on the part of Leonardo to illustrate one of the most dramatic episodes of the New Testament in the spirit of feminism, when people lost their lives for much more innocent actions.
Conclusion:
Most likely, it is John who is depicted in the painting. He was the youngest of the apostles, at the time of the events of the Gospel he was no more than 20 years old, and according to tradition he was often depicted as a trembling, beardless young man with long golden hair. As for Leonardo, he had a unique idea of beauty. Very often in his paintings and drawings we can find people who can be classified equally as men and women. In this way, the artist probably wanted to emphasize the primacy of the spirit over the mortal body and its animal physiological nature.
The Last Supper (painted by Leonardo da Vinci)
2. What gesture does the apostle Thomas show?
The masterpiece is based on the plot described in the Gospel texts, when Christ gathered the 12 apostles for the last meal and told them: “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” Leonardo described the students’ reaction to these words. He wanted to reproduce the wave of emotions that diverged after Christ’s words to the right and left, like ripples in the water after a stone was thrown.
The location of the apostles in the fresco “The Last Supper” from left to right:
1. Bartholomew: He jumped to his feet, surprised, he can’t believe what he heard.
2. Jacob Alfeev – trying to calm Peter, who pulled out a knife to protect the Master
3. Andrey: He raised his palms upwards, as if he was trying to stop the terrible events that would follow.
4. Judas Iscariot: with a bag of money in his hand. It could be the same 30 pieces of silver that he received for betrayal, or donations, because Judas was the treasurer of the community.
5. Peter holds a knife in one hand and pushes John aside with the other. As a man of action, he is ready to go into battle and punish the traitor.
6. John – humbly bowed his head to fate. It seems that he already knew that Jesus would be captured and executed. But until the end he did not want to believe it.
7. Jesus is calm and sad, he understands that his earthly journey has ended and he is ready to drink his cup to the bottom.
8. Thomas is the most difficult with him: he makes a strange gesture by raising his index finger. This gesture can often be seen today by MMA fighters. That is why they emphasize that victory came with the help of higher powers. But here this index finger clearly means something else. Maybe Thomas wants to clarify whether only one of them is a traitor? Or maybe this gesture referred to later events, when Doubting Thomas said that he would not believe in the resurrection of Christ until he put his finger in the wounds on his body. And art historians still do not have an unambiguous interpretation.
9. Jacob the Elder – angrily spreads his arms out to the sides: “Treason? This can’t be!
10. Philip – as if asking Jesus: “Am I really the traitor, Lord?”
11. Matthew – seems to be addressing his comrades: “Amazing! Did you hear what the Master said?
12. Thaddeus – apparently, he is mentally reviewing which of the apostles is capable of betrayal. Researchers suggest that Leonardo portrayed himself in the image of Thaddeus.
13. Simon – as if weighing Jesus’ words on a scale and calling out: let us not get excited, perhaps everything will still take shape.
3. Did a person become the prototype of Christ and Judas?
Leonardo wanted to create a work that would move the viewer to the core. To do this, he used various artistic means. Thus, the interior space of the painting continues the real interior of the refectory. And even the dishes on the apostles’ table are painted exactly like those from which the monks ate. Thus, Leonardo emphasized that the events of the Gospels are by no means things of the past; the struggle between Good and Evil continues every day around us.
There is an interesting legend associated with this concept. It is described in the novel “The Devil and Miss Prim” by Paulo Coelho. Leonardo set himself his greatest task – to paint the face of God and the face of the Devil. He easily found a model in the image of Jesus. One of the singers, whom the artist saw during a performance of the church choir, was ideally suited to his purpose. A bright, spiritual face, a clear, open gaze – it seemed that the very spirit of God lived in this appearance. Leonardo invited the young man to his workshop and made a number of sketches and sketches. But the model for the face of Judas, who personified Vice, has not yet been found. Three years have passed, and the huge painting (4.6 by 8.8 meters) was almost ready. Only Judas remained. Finally, Leonardo saw a drunken scoundrel lying in a ditch. Greed, anger, selfishness and contempt for people were clearly visible on his face. The artist’s pupils pulled the drunk out of the puddle and brought him to the studio, where Leonardo feverishly began to make sketches. When the drunk recovered a little, he recognized Leonardo – it turned out that three years ago it was Leonardo who had painted the face of Christ. And then a tragic turning point occurred in his life and the singer went downhill… The moral of the legend is that God and the Devil live in one person, and his soul is a battlefield that is fought daily between Good and Evil.
It is impossible to confirm or refute this legend. No more than 20 percent of Leonardo’s painting of The Last Supper remains. The paints on the painting began to degrade very early; 70 years later, the artist Giorgio Vasari wrote that he saw a “dull stain” instead of a work of art. The masterpiece was restored many times, often without success. We have an idea of what the painting on the refectory wall originally looked like thanks to Da Vinci’s pupils: their names were Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli and Giovanni Boltraffio. “The Last Supper” began to deteriorate during Leonardo’s lifetime, and in order to preserve the masterpiece, they made a copy on a large canvas. The copy is much better preserved (the restorers rely on it), but we do not know how accurately the apprentices’ hand conveyed Leonardo’s plan. Judging by what we see now, the Renaissance genius used another contrasting technique: the play of light and shadow. The face of the Savior is open to the light, but the face of Judas is hidden in darkness, it is difficult to see, but you can fill it in mentally. Depending on how we imagine the appearance of evil.
