The Last Supper
by Staff Writer“The Last Supper”: Leonardo da Vinci’s Masterpiece
In the second half of the fifteenth century there lived an enlightened man by the name of Leonardo da Vinci. His genius became evident in all the fields into which he ventured. He dedicated his life to understanding how the world and anatomy worked. In each of his projects he was ahead of his time. But still, there are many mysteries surrounding his life. Almost 500 years after his death, we are still attempting to solve the many mysteries concealed within the works of Leonardo da Vinci. Last Supper, possibly da Vinci’s most famous painting, is a perfect example of the endless depths of his creations.
The beginning of Christianity marks the rise of the Catholic Church and its influence on western culture. The Church would set the pace for the west through an elaborate relation with art and even more so with science. In 1452, in Tuscany, Leonardo da Vinci was born. His encounter with the Church was unavoidable. At that time, the Church was a primary benefactor of all artists. Leonardo da Vinci was no exception. Some of his works are considered the official representations of certain key passages from the New Testament.
Taken for hundreds of years as being the Christian version for the moment that Christ gave communion to his disciples and announced Judas’s betrayal, Leonardo da Vinci’s, “The Last Supper” holds several mysteries. The work depicts the moment that Jesus announces Judas’s betrayal. He then warns that he will be denied three times by Peter. He gives communion to his disciples and entrusts them with their apostle mission.
What is the story of Jesus told by Leonardo da Vinci? Last Supper painting interprets the story from the point of view of one man. Da Vinci’s depiction was considered to be modeled after the biblical story of the last supper, however, is this truly the case?
As the Catholic Church never wanted the true relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene to come to light, there is a hidden message in “The Last Supper”. Da Vinci’s work indicates that the biblical passage depicted by da Vinci is taken from Gnostic version of the texts.
Leonardo da Vinci obsessively sketched out all of his works, taking measurements and using diagonal and parallel lines and formulas. In each of his projects he worked with hidden lines. It is possible to think that the straight lines that form the letter M for Mary Magdalene are not just a random occurrence.
His work is full of female figures; would we dare to say that “The Last Supper” painting suggests another deity next to Jesus, a female deity? Saying that Leonardo painted Mary Magdalene and not John the Apostle to the right of Jesus, is a daring statement and it forces us to take a closer look at this woman’s role in the gospels. There are two figures in the Bible who have always been difficult to grasp, and yet both are crucial to the life of Jesus; the first is John the Baptist who some say was Jesus’ cousin. The relationship between these two figures was one of love and rivalry. The other is Mary Magdalene. Just as John the Baptist can be considered the beginning, Mary Magdalene (the first to see Christ risen) can be considered the end. The beginning and the end, like a knot, one of the many knots that may not have liked to invent. Mary Magdalene’s presence in “The Last Supper” is more than a psychology or the declaration of sexual identity. It is rather a definite stance.
Supposedly, Leonardo was a member of a secret association like the Priory of Sion, a heretical group that defended Mary Magdalene’s position in the Church. Due to the pervading censorship this political and moral stance could only be conveyed through the symbols.
Though he enjoyed the protection of the powerful, Leonardo da Vinci risked everything to present the version of the gospels that had been denied and forbidden by the very Church that commissioned his work. We might think of it as a hoax but nothing that Leonardo ever did was naïve, in fact was on a mission.
