If we talk about the monuments of art and culture, which have global importance, 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 usually the execution of such a picture took about three months) 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 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 few 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 who study creative legacy 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 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 painting according to left hand from 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, then 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 herring - her Italian name, "aringa", consonant with "arringare" - teaching, sermon, 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 the most different 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!
Last Supper - event last days earthly life of Jesus Christ, his last meal with his twelve closest disciples, during which he established the sacrament of the Eucharist and predicted the betrayal of one of the disciples. The Last Supper is the subject of many icons and paintings, but the most famous work is The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci.
In the center of Milan, next to the Gothic church of Santa Maria della Grazie, is the entrance to the former Dominican monastery, where the famous wall painting by Leonardo da Vinci is located. Created in 1495-97, The Last Supper is the most copied work. Already during the Renaissance, about 20 works were written with the same theme by artists from France, Germany and Spain.
Church of Santa Maria della Grazie
The painter received an order to paint the work from his patron, Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza in 1495. Despite the fact that the ruler was famous for his dissolute life, after the death of his wife, he did not leave his room for 15 days. And when he left, the first thing he ordered was Leonardo da Vinci's fresco, which his late wife once asked for, and forever stopped all entertainment at court.
Sketch
"The Last Supper", description
The brush of Leonardo captured Jesus Christ with his apostles during the last supper before his execution, which took place in Jerusalem, on the eve of his arrest by the Romans. According to the scripture, Jesus said during the meal that one of the apostles would betray him (“and while they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me”). Leonardo da Vinci tried to depict the reaction of each of the students to the prophetic phrase of the teacher. The artist, as usual creative people, worked very chaotically. Either he did not break away from his work for whole days, then he applied only a few strokes. He walked around the city talking to ordinary people watching the emotions on their faces.
The size of the work is approximately 460 × 880 cm, it is located in the refectory of the monastery, on the back wall. Although often referred to as a fresco, this is not entirely correct. After all, Leonardo da Vinci wrote the work not on wet plaster, but on dry plaster, in order to be able to edit it several times. To do this, the artist applied a thick layer of egg tempera to the wall.
painting method oil paints turned out to be very short-lived. Ten years later, together with his students, he tries to make the first restoration work. A total of eight restorations have been made over the course of 300 years. As a result, new layers of paint were repeatedly applied to the painting, significantly distorting the original.
Today, in order to protect this delicate work from damage, a constant temperature and humidity are maintained in the building through special filtering devices. Entrance at a time - no more than 25 people every 15 minutes, and admission ticket must be booked in advance.
The cult work of Da Vinci is surrounded by legends, a number of mysteries and conjectures are associated with it. We will present some of them.
Leonardo Da Vinci "The Last Supper"
1. It is believed that the most difficult thing for Leonardo da Vinci was to write two characters: Jesus and Judas. The artist has been looking for suitable models to embody the images of good and evil.
Jesus
Once Leonardo saw a young singer in the church choir - so inspired and pure that there was no doubt: he found the prototype of Jesus for his Last Supper. It remained to find Judas.
Judas
The artist spent hours wandering around haunted places, but he was lucky only after almost 3 years. In the ditch lay an absolutely lowered type in a state of strong alcohol intoxication. They took him to the workshop. And after the image of Judas was painted, the drunkard went up to the picture and admitted that he had already seen it before. It turned out that three years ago he was completely different, led a correct lifestyle and sang in the church choir. And somehow an artist approached him with a proposal to paint Christ from him.
2. 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.
3. The figure of the student who is located along the right hand from Christ. It is believed that this is Mary Magdalene and her location indicates the fact that she was the lawful wife of Jesus. This fact is allegedly confirmed by the letter "M" (from "Matrimonio" - "marriage"), which is formed by the contours of the couple's bodies. At the same time, some historians argue with this statement and insist that Leonardo da Vinci's signature, the letter "V", is visible in the painting.
4. During World War II, on August 15, 1943, the refectory was bombed. A shell that hit the church building destroyed almost everything, except for the wall on which the fresco was depicted. Sandbags prevented bomb fragments from hitting the mural, but vibration could have had a detrimental effect.
5. Historians and art historians study in detail not only the apostles, but also the food depicted on the table. For example, the biggest subject of controversy so far is the fish in the picture. It is not determined what is depicted on the fresco - a herring or an eel. Scientists see this as an encrypted hidden meaning. And all because in Italian "eel" is pronounced as "aringa". And "arringa" - in translation - instruction. At the same time, the word "herring" is pronounced in northern Italy as "renga", which means "one who denies religion" in translation.
There is no doubt that Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper still holds many unsolved secrets. And as soon as they are solved, we will certainly write about it.
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, perhaps included in the top 3 most mysterious and controversial works famous Italian. A fresco that is not actually one. Three year experiment. A fertile field for speculation about the meaning of the symbols and the true personalities of those depicted. An overwhelming challenge for restorers. All this is about one of the most famous works art in the world.
Dashing trouble is the beginning: who ordered Leonardo's "Last Supper"
In 1494, the odious and ambitious Lodovico Sforza became Duke of Milan. Despite all the ambitions and weaknesses, to one degree or another inherent, it must be said, almost every outstanding statesman, Lodovico served a lot for the benefit of his fiefdom and achieved significant diplomatic successes, having achieved peaceful relations with Florence, Venice and Rome.He paid much attention to the development Agriculture, industry, science and culture. Of the painters, he especially favored Leonardo da Vinci. His brush belongs to the portrait of Lodovico's mistress and the mother of his son Cecilia (Cecilia) Gallerani, better known as "Lady with an Ermine". Presumably, the painter also immortalized the legal wife of the Duke Beatrice d'Este, as well as his second favorite and mother of another illegitimate son Lucrezia Crivelli.
Lodovico's house church was a chapel at the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, and its rector was a close friend of the duke. The ruler of Milan became a sponsor large-scale reconstruction church, which he saw as a future mausoleum and a monument to the Sforza dynasty. Vain plans were exacerbated by the sudden death of his wife Beatrice and daughter Bianca in 1497, two years after Leonardo began work on The Last Supper.
In 1495, when the painter received an order to paint one of the walls of the refectory chapel with a nine-meter fresco with the popular gospel story, telling about last meeting Christ with the apostles, where he first revealed to his disciples the sacrament of the Eucharist, no one could even suspect how long and difficult fate waiting for her.
Experimental art by Leonardo da Vinci
Until that moment, da Vinci did not have to work with frescoes. But how could this become an obstacle for a person who, of all methods of cognition, chose empirical, and did not trust anyone's word, preferring to check everything on own experience? He acted on the principle "we are not looking for easy ways", and in this case remained faithful to him to the end.Instead of using the good old technique of applying tempera to fresh plaster (in fact, which gave the name to the fresco, derived from the Italian fresco - “fresh”), Leonardo began to experiment. Literally all the factors and stages involved in the creation of frescoes became the subject of his experiments, from the construction of scaffolding, for which he tried to invent his own mechanisms, and ending with the composition of plaster and paints.
Firstly, the method of working on wet plaster was categorically not suitable for him, which seized rather quickly and did not allow him to thoughtfully work on each fragment and endlessly refine it, bringing it to perfection, as Leonardo da Vinci usually painted his paintings. Secondly, the traditional egg tempera did not give the degree of brightness of colors he needed, since it faded somewhat and changed color when dried. And mixing pigments with oil made it possible to obtain more expressive and brilliant colors. In addition, it was possible to achieve different densities of shades: from very thick and opaque to thin, luminous. This perfectly matched da Vinci's love for creating filigree chiaroscuro effects and the signature sfumato technique.
But that's not all. In order to make the oil emulsion more suitable for the requirements of wall painting, the painter decides to add egg yolk to it, thus obtaining a hitherto unseen "oil tempera" composition. As time will tell, in the long run, a bold experiment did not justify itself.
Business Is Time: The Long History of The Last Supper
According to contemporaries, da Vinci approached all aspects of writing The Last Supper with such thoroughness that it dragged on indefinitely, and this irritated the abbot to no end. First, who will like the state of "chronic repair" in the place of eating, with all the nuances that follow from this (some sources mention very bad smell author's composition of plaster from Leonardo).Secondly, a long process meant a corresponding increase in the financial costs of painting, especially since a whole team worked on it. Volume only preparatory work for the application of plaster, primer and lead white coating involves the involvement of all members of the Leonardo studio.
The abbot's patience was gradually coming to an end, and he complained to the duke about the slowness and laziness of the artist. According to the legend cited by Vasari in his Biographies, da Vinci, in his own defense, answered Lodovico that he could not find a suitable scoundrel to model for Judas. And that if a face of the required degree of hideousness is never found, he "can always use the head of this abbot, so importunate and immodest".
There is another legend about the sitter who posed while writing Jude. So beautiful that if the situation is far from reality, it would be worth inventing it. The artist seemed to be looking for his Judas among the very dregs of society, and in the end he chose the last drunkard from the gutter. The “model” could barely stand on her feet and didn’t think much, but when the image of Judas was ready, the drunkard looked at the painting and said that he had already had to pose for her before.
It turned out that three years before these events, when he was a young and chaste singer in a church choir, a certain painter noticed him and offered him the role of a sitter for the image of Christ. It turns out that the same person in different periods of my life I happened to be both the embodiment of absolute purity and love, and the prototype of the greatest fall and betrayal. A beautiful parable about the fragile boundaries between good and evil and how hard it is to climb up and slide down easily.
Elusive beauty: how much Leonardo is left in The Last Supper?
Despite all the efforts and experiments with the composition of the paint, da Vinci still failed to revolutionize the painting of frescoes. It was usually assumed that they were made in order to please the eye for many centuries, and the destruction of the paint layer of The Last Supper began during the life of the painter. And already in the middle of the XVI century, Vasari mentioned that "can't see anything but a tangle of spots".Numerous restorations and attempts to save the painting by the legendary Italian only exacerbated the losses. The British art historian Kenneth Clark in the 1930s examined preparatory sketches and early copies of The Last Supper by the artists involved in its creation. He compared them to what was left of the fresco, and his conclusions were disappointing: “Exaggeratedly grimacing faces, as if descended from the Last Judgment by Michelangelo, belonged to the brush of a feeble mannerist of the 16th century”.
The last and most extensive restoration was completed in 1999. It took about two decades and required an investment of more than 20 billion lire. And no wonder: the restorers had to work thinner than jewelry: it was necessary to remove all layers of early restorations, while not damaging the crumbs that remained from the original painting. The head of the restoration work recalled that the fresco was treated in such a way that “like she was a real invalid”.
Despite the voices of critics that as a result, The Last Supper has lost its "spirit of the original", today it is still closer to what the monks of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie saw in front of them during a meal. The main paradox is that one of the most famous and recognizable works of art in the world contains only no more than 20 percent of the original.
In fact, now it is the embodiment of a collective interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci's intention, obtained through painstaking research and analysis of all available information. But, as is often the case in the art world, the hard fate of the exhibit only adds to its points and value (remember the story of the kidnapping and acquisition of Davinchi's Mona Lisa, which brought her to the absolute top of the mass culture).
The Last Supper is certainly one of the most mysterious works brilliant Leonardo da Vinci, with whom only his Gioconda can compete in terms of the number of rumors and conjectures.
After the publication of the novel The Da Vinci Code, the fresco decorating the refectory of the Milanese Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Chiesa e Convento Domenicano di Santa Maria delle Grazie) attracted the attention of not only art history researchers, but also lovers of all kinds of conspiracy theories. . In today's article, I will try to answer the most popular questions concerning "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci.
1. WHAT IS THE LAST SUPPER BY LEONARDO CORRECTLY?
Surprisingly, the “Last Supper” only in the Russian version has such a name, in the languages of other countries both the biblical event depicted on the fresco by Leonardo, and the fresco itself has a much less poetic, but very capacious name “The Last Supper”, that is, Ultima Cena in Italian or The Last Supper in English. In principle, the name more accurately reflects the essence of what is happening on the wall painting, because before us is not a secret meeting of conspirators, but the last supper of Christ with the apostles. The second name of the fresco in Italian is Il Cenacolo, which simply translates as “refectory”.
2. HOW DID THE IDEA OF THE LAST SUPPER COME TOGETHER?
Before answering this question, it is necessary to make some clarity about the laws under which the art market lived in the fifteenth century. In fact, the free art market did not exist then, artists, as well as sculptors, worked only if they received an order from rich and influential families or from the Vatican. As you know, Leonardo da Vinci began his career in Florence, many believe that he had to leave the city because of accusations of homosexuality, but, in fact, everything was most likely much more prosaic. It's just that Leonardo had a very strong competitor in Florence - Michelangelo, who enjoyed a huge location. Lorenzo Medici Magnificent and took all the most interesting orders for himself. Leonardo arrived in Milan at the invitation of Ludovico Sforza and stayed in Lombardy for 17 years.
Pictured: Ludovico Sforza and Beatrice d'Este
All these years, da Vinci not only made art, but also designed his famous military vehicles, strong and light bridges and even mills, and was also artistic director mass events. For example, it was Leonardo da Vinci who was the organizer of the wedding of Bianca Maria Sforza (Ludovico's niece) with Emperor Maximilian I of Innsbruck, and, of course, he also arranged the wedding of Ludovico Sforza himself with the young Beatrice d'Este - one of the most beautiful princesses Italian Renaissance. Beatrice d'Este was from wealthy Ferrara, and her younger brother. The princess was well educated, her husband idolized her not only for her amazing beauty, but also for her sharp mind, and, in addition, contemporaries noted that Beatrice was a very energetic person, she took an active part in public affairs and patronized artists.
In the photo: Santa Maria delle Grazie (Chiesa e Convento Domenicano di Santa Maria delle Grazie)
It is believed that the idea to decorate the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie with a painting on the theme of the last supper of Christ with the apostles belongs to her. The choice of Beatrice fell on this Dominican monastery for one simple reason - the monastery church was, by the standards of the fifteenth century, a structure that surpassed the imaginations of the people of that time, so the refectory of the monastery deserved to be decorated by the hand of the master. Unfortunately, Beatrice d'Este herself never saw the Last Supper fresco, she died in childbirth at a very young age, she was only 22 years old.
3. FOR HOW MANY YEARS LEONARDO DA VINCI WROTE "THE LAST SUPPER"?
There is no correct answer to this question, it is generally accepted that work on the painting began in 1495, went on intermittently, and Leonardo finished around 1498, that is, the year after the death of Beatrice d'Este. However, since the archives of the monastery were destroyed, the exact date of the start of work on the fresco is unknown, one can only assume that it could not have begun before 1491, since Beatrice and Ludovico Sforza were married in this year, and, if we focus on the few documents that have come down to our days, then, judging by them, the painting was at the final stage already in 1497.
4. IS THE LAST SUPPER BY LEONARDO DA VINCI A FRESCO IN THE STRICT UNDERSTANDING OF THIS TERM?
No, strictly speaking, it is not. The fact is that this species painting implies that the artist must paint quickly, that is, work on wet plaster and immediately on a clean copy. For Leonardo, who was very meticulous and did not recognize the work right away, this was completely unacceptable, so da Vinci invented a special primer from resin, gabs and mastic and painted The Last Supper dry. On the one hand, he was able to make numerous changes to the painting, and on the other hand, it was precisely because of the painting on a dry surface that the canvas began to collapse very quickly.
5. WHAT IS THE MOMENT DESCRIBED AT LEONARDO'S LAST SUPPER?
The moment when Christ says that one of the disciples will betray him, the focus of the artist's attention is the reaction of the disciples to his words.
6. WHO SITS AT THE RIGHT HAND OF CHRIST: THE APOSTLE JOHN OR MARY MAGDALENE?
There is no unequivocal answer to this question, the rule strictly works here, whoever believes in what he sees. Especially, state of the art"The Last Supper" is very far from what the contemporaries of da Vinci saw as a fresco. But, it is worth saying, the figure on the right hand of Christ did not surprise and did not outrage Leonardo's contemporaries. The fact is that on the frescoes on the theme of the Last Supper, the figure on the right hand of Christ has always been very feminine; Maurizio.
In the photo: The Last Supper in the Basilica of San Maurizio
Here the figure in the same position again looks very feminine, in a word, one of two things turns out: either all the artists of Milan were in conspiracy and portrayed Mary Magdalene at the Last Supper, or is it just artistic tradition- depict John as a feminine young man. Decide for yourself.
7. WHAT IS THE LAST SUPPER INNOVATIVE, WHY IS LEONARDO SAYING COMPLETELY FROM THE CLASSICAL CANONS?
First of all, in realism. The fact is that when creating his masterpiece, Leonardo decided to move away from the canons of biblical painting that existed at that time, he wanted to achieve such an effect that the monks who dined in the hall physically felt the presence of the Savior. That is why all household items are written off from those items that were in the everyday life of the monks of the Dominican monastery: the same tables at which Leonardo's contemporaries ate, the same utensils, the same dishes, yes, whatever, even the landscape outside the window - resembles the view from the windows refectory as it was in the fifteenth century.
In the photo: a mirror image of the "Last Supper"
But that is not all! The fact is that the rays of light on the fresco are a continuation of the real sunlight, falling into the windows of the refectory, in many places the painting passes golden ratio, and due to the fact that Leonardo was able to correctly reproduce the depth of perspective, the fresco after completion of the work was voluminous, that is, in fact, it was made with a 3D effect. Unfortunately, now you can see this effect only from one point of the hall, the coordinates of the desired point: 9 meters deep into the hall from the fresco and about 3 meters above the current floor level.
8. WITH WHOM LEONARDO WROTE CHRIST, JUDAS AND OTHER FRESCO CHARACTERS?
All the characters on the fresco were painted from Leonardo's contemporaries, they say that the artist constantly walked the streets of Milan and looked for suitable characters, which even caused displeasure of the abbot of the monastery, who considered that the artist did not spend enough time at work. As a result, Leonardo informed the abbot that if he did not stop bothering him, then the portrait of Judas would be painted from him. The threat had an effect, and the rector of the maestro did not interfere anymore. For the image of Judas, the artist could not find a type for a very long time until he met a suitable person on the streets of Milan.
Judas on the fresco "The Last Supper"
When Leonardo brought an extra to his studio, it turned out that the same person had posed for da Vinci for the image of Christ a few years earlier, just then he sang in the church choir and looked completely different. What a cruel irony! In the light of this information, the well-known historical anecdote that the man from whom Leonardo wrote Judas told everyone that he was depicted at the Last Supper in the image of Christ takes on a completely different meaning.
9. IS THERE A PORTRAIT OF LEONARDO HIMSELF ON THE FRESCO?
There is a theory that there is also a self-portrait of Leonardo on The Last Supper, supposedly the artist is present on the fresco in the image of the Apostle Thaddeus - this is the second figure on the right.
Image of the Apostle Thaddeus on the fresco and portraits of Leonardo da Vinci
The truth of this statement is still in question, but the analysis of Leonardo's portraits clearly demonstrates a strong external resemblance to the image on the fresco.
10. HOW IS THE LAST SUPPER AND THE NUMBER 3 RELATED?
Another mystery of the Last Supper is the constantly repeating number 3: there are three windows on the fresco, the apostles are arranged in groups of three, even the contours of the figure of Jesus resemble a triangle. And, I must say, this is not at all accidental, because the number 3 constantly appears in the New Testament. It's not just about the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit, the number 3 goes through the whole description of the earthly ministry of Jesus.
Three wise men brought gifts to the born Jesus in Nazareth, 33 years - the term of the earthly life of Christ, also according to the New Testament, the Son of God was to be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights (Matt. 12:40), that is, Jesus was in hell from the evening Friday to Sunday morning, in addition, the Apostle Peter denied Jesus Christ three times before the rooster crowed (by the way, this was also predicted at the Last Supper), there were three crosses on Golgotha, and Christ resurrected on the morning of the third day after the crucifixion.
PRACTICAL INFO:
Tickets for visiting the Last Supper must be ordered in advance, but rumors that they need to be booked six months in advance are greatly exaggerated. In fact, a month, or even three weeks before the intended visit, free tickets for the desired dates, as a rule, are available. You can order tickets on the website: the cost depends on the season, in winter visiting the Last Supper costs 8 euros, in summer - 12 euros (prices according to information for 2016). In addition, now at the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie you can often see resellers selling tickets with an extra charge of 2-3 euros, so if you are lucky, you can get there by accident. It is forbidden to take pictures of the fresco, the entrance is strictly at the time indicated on the ticket.
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Julia Malkova- Julia Malkova - founder of the website project. In past Chief Editor Internet project elle.ru and editor-in-chief of the cosmo.ru website. I talk about traveling for my own pleasure and the pleasure of readers. If you are a representative of hotels, tourism office, but we are not familiar, you can contact me by email: [email protected]
The Last Supper. For many historians and art historians, Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper is the greatest work world art. In The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown focuses readers' attention on some of the symbolic elements of the painting when Sophie Neveu, while at Lee Teabing's house, learns that Leonardo might have encoded something in his masterpiece. great secret. The Last Supper is a fresco painted on the wall of the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. Back in the era of Leonardo himself, she was considered his best and famous work. The fresco was created between 1495 and 1497, but already during the first twenty years of its existence, as is clear from the written evidence of those years, it began to deteriorate. Its dimensions are approximately 15 by 29 feet.
The fresco was painted with a thick layer of egg tempera on dry plaster. Beneath the main coat of paint is a rough compositional sketch, a study, inscribed in red in a manner predating the usual use of cardboard. It's kind of a preparatory tool. It is known that the customer of the painting was the Duke of Milan Lodovico Sforza, at whose court Leonardo gained fame as a great painter, and not at all the monks of the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie. The theme of the picture is the moment when Jesus Christ announces to his disciples that one of them will betray him. Pacioli writes about this in the third chapter of his book Divine Proportion. It was this moment - when Christ announces the betrayal - that Leonardo da Vinci captured. To achieve accuracy and lifelikeness, he studied the postures and facial expressions of many of his contemporaries, whom he later depicted in the picture. The identity of the apostles has repeatedly been the subject of controversy, however, judging by the inscriptions on the copy of the painting stored 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 the Zealot. Many art historians believe that this composition should be taken as an iconographic interpretation of the Eucharist - communion, since Jesus Christ points with both hands at the table with wine and bread. Almost all researchers of Leonardo's work agree that perfect place for looking at the picture - from a height of about 13-15 feet above the floor and at a distance of 26-33 feet from it. There is an opinion - now disputed - that the composition and the system of its perspective are based on musical canon proportions. The unique character of The Last Supper is given by the fact that, unlike other paintings of this kind, it shows the amazing variety and richness of the emotions of the characters caused by the words of Jesus that one of the disciples will betray him. No other painting based on the Last Supper can even come close to the unique composition and attention to detail in Leonardo's masterpiece. So what secrets could he encrypt in his creation great artist? In The Discovery of the Templars, Clive Prince and Lynn Picknett argue that several elements of The Last Supper's structure are indicative of the symbols encoded within it. First, they believe that the figure on the right hand of Jesus (for the viewer, she is on the left) is not John, but a certain woman.
She is wearing a robe, the color of which contrasts with the clothes of Christ, she is tilted in the opposite direction from Jesus, who is sitting in the center. The space between this female figure and Jesus is V-shaped, and the figures themselves form the letter M.
Secondly, in the picture, in their opinion, a certain hand is visible next to Peter, squeezing a knife. Prince and Picknett argue that this hand does not belong to any of the characters in the picture.
Thirdly, sitting directly to the left of Jesus (on the right - for the audience), Thomas, turning to Christ, raised his finger.
And finally, there is a hypothesis that the Apostle Thaddeus, sitting with his back to Christ, is actually a self-portrait of Leonardo himself.
Let's analyze each of the points in order. Upon closer examination of the picture, it turns out that the character to the right of Jesus (for the viewer - to the left) really differs in female or feminine features. Prince and Picknett assure readers that women's breasts are even visible under the folds of clothing. Of course, Leonardo sometimes liked to give feminine features male figures and persons. For example, a close examination of the image of John the Baptist shows that he is endowed with almost the features of a hermaphrodite with pale, hairless skin.
But what of the fact that in the painting "The Last Supper" Jesus and John (the woman) deviated in opposite directions, forming a space between them in the form of the letter V, and the contours of their bodies form the letter M? Does it carry some symbolic meaning? Prince and Picknett argue that such an unusual placement of figures, one of which has distinct feminine features, contains a hint that this is not John, but Mary Magdalene, and the V sign is a symbol of the sacred feminine. The letter M, according to their hypothesis, means the name - Mary / Magdalene. You can agree or disagree with this assumption, but no one will deny its originality and courage. Let's focus on the disembodied hand. Whose hand is visible on the left, next to the figure of Peter? Why is she so threateningly clutching a dagger or knife? Another oddity is that Peter's left hand, with the edge of his palm, seems to cut the throat of the neighboring figure.
What did Leonardo mean by this? What does such a strange gesture of Peter mean? However, upon closer examination, it is clear that the hand with the knife still belongs to Peter, and does not exist on its own. Peter twisted his left arm, and therefore its position is clearly unusual and extremely awkward. As for the second hand, threateningly raised to the throat of John / Mary, there is an explanation for this: Peter de simply puts his hand on his / her shoulder. It is likely that this debate will continue for a very long time. As for Thomas, sitting to the left of Jesus (on the right - for the viewer), he really lifted up forefinger left hand in a clearly threatening manner. This gesture of John the Baptist, as Prince and Picknett call it, is present in many paintings by Leonardo, as well as other painters of that era. It allegedly symbolizes the underground flow of knowledge and wisdom. The fact is that John the Baptist actually played much more important role than that assigned to him in Scripture. For those who wish to know more about this, I advise you to read the book The Discovery of the Templars. The apostle Thaddeus depicted in the picture seems to have some resemblance to Leonardo, if we compare his image with the famous self-portrait of the great artist. In many paintings by Leonardo da Vinci dedicated to Jesus or the Holy Family, the same detail is noticeable: at least one of the figures is turned back to the main character painting canvas. For example, in the painting "The Adoration of the Magi". The recently completed restoration of The Last Supper has made it possible to learn a lot about this amazing picture. In it, and in many other canvases by Leonardo, in fact, some secret messages and forgotten characters. However, their true meaning is still not completely clear to us, which gives rise to more and more guesses and assumptions. Be that as it may, much remains to be done in the future to unravel these mysteries. I would like us to be able to comprehend the ideas of the great master at least to the smallest extent.
