Who is Judas in the painting the Last Supper. The Last Supper (fresco by Leonardo da Vinci)

For the sake of the opportunity to look at it, millions of tourists strive to Milan, regardless of the season.

The original fresco is in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in the eponymous square of Milan. The church was built during the Renaissance. It was commissioned by the Dominican monks to the architect J. Solari. The Last Supper fresco was commissioned by the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Maria Sforzo, at whose court Leonardo da Vinci won the fame of a skilled painter. The artist fulfilled the received order in the refectory of the monastery in 1495-1497.

Damage and restorations

During its more than half a thousand years of existence, the fresco was repeatedly damaged. And by the Dominican monks themselves who cut off lower part images along with the feet of Jesus and the nearby apostles. And the troops of Napoleon, who turned the church into a stable and threw stones at the heads of the apostles. And the Allied bombs that exploded on the roof during World War II. After the damage caused, well-meaning restorers tried to repair the damage, but the result was not very good.

Already at the end of the 20th century, a lengthy restoration removed all previous unsuccessful restoration attempts and repaired the damage caused to the fresco. But despite this, today's "Last Supper" is just a shadow of the masterpiece created by the great painter.

Description

Until now, many art scholars believe « The Last Supper "by Leonardo da Vinci greatest work world art. Even in da Vinci's era, the fresco was considered his best work. Its approximate dimensions are 880 by 460 cm. It was made on dry plaster using a thick layer of egg tempera. Due to the use of such a fragile material, the fresco began to collapse already somewhere in 20 years after its creation.

The painting depicts the moment when Jesus Christ at dinner informs his disciples that one of them, Judas, is sitting second in right hand from Christ, will betray him. In the painting, Judas reaches with his left hand for the same dish as Jesus, and in his right hand squeezes a bag of silver. To obtain verisimilitude and accuracy, Leonardo for a long time observed the poses and facial expressions of his contemporaries in various situations. Most researchers of Leonardo da Vinci's work have come to the conclusion that the ideal place to contemplate the picture is a distance of 9 meters from it at a height of 3.5 meters from the floor level.

The uniqueness of The Last Supper lies in the striking variety and richness of emotions of the characters depicted. No other painting on the theme of the Last Supper can even come close to comparing the uniqueness of the composition and subtle portrayal of Leonardo's masterpiece. Three or four days could pass, during which the master did not touch the future work of art.

And when he returned, he stood for hours before the sketch, examining it and criticizing his work.

Thanks to this, each character is not only beautiful portrait but also a clear type. Every detail is thought out and weighed repeatedly.

The most difficult thing for Leonardo when writing the picture was to find models for painting Good, embodied in the image of Christ, and Evil, embodied in the image of Judas. There is even a legend about how the ideal models for these images were found on great picture... Once the painter got to the performance church choir... And there, in the face of one of the young singing choirs, he saw beautiful image Jesus. He invited the boy to his studio and completed several sketches. Three years later, the main work on "The Last Supper" was almost finished, and Leonardo never found a suitable model for Judas. And the customer was in a hurry, demanding an early completion of the work. And so, having undertaken many days of searches, the artist saw a ragamuffin lying in a gutter. He was a young man, but he was drunk, ragged, and looked very decrepit. Deciding not to waste time on sketches, da Vinci asked to bring this man directly to the cathedral. The limp body was dragged into the temple, and the master painted from him the sinfulness, looking from his face.

When the work was over, the tramp came to his senses and cried out in fright when he saw the picture. It turned out that he had already seen her, three years ago. Then he was young and full of dreams, and some artist invited him to pose for the image of Christ. Later everything changed, he lost himself and went down in life.

Maybe this legend tells us that good and evil are two facets of the same coin. And in life everything depends on the moment at which they meet on our way.

Tickets, opening hours

Visitors to the church wishing to see the "Last Supper" can only go inside for viewing in groups of up to 25 people. Before entering everyone, in mandatory, must undergo a procedure for removing dirt from clothing using special devices.

But, despite this, the line of those wishing to see the fresco with their own eyes never runs out. During high season from April to November, tickets must be booked at least 4 months in advance.

Moreover, the reservation must be paid immediately. That is, you cannot pay later for what was ordered in advance. V winter time when the flow of tourists decreases a little, tickets can be booked 1-2 months before the visit.

It is most profitable to buy tickets on the official website of the Italian Ministry of Culture www.vivaticket.it, which is available in Italian and English, but in fact there are never tickets there. As of 2019, an adult ticket costs 12 euros + 3.5 euros tax.

How to buy tickets at the last moment

How to see the famous fresco?

Having shoveled the entire Internet and analyzed dozens of intermediary sites, I can only recommend one reliable site for buying tickets online "in last moment» Is www.getyourguide.ru

We go to the Milan section and select tickets costing from 44 euros with an English-language excursion - such tickets are on sale in about a week or two.

If you need to see the Last Supper urgently, then choose the option for 68 euros with a guided tour of Milan.

For example, on August 18 in the evening I managed to book tickets for August 21, while on the official website the nearest free window is not earlier than December. The cost of 2 tickets with a group tour of Milan was 136 euros.

Opening hours of the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie: from 8-15 to 19-00 with a break from 12-00 to 15-00. On pre-holiday and holidays, the church is open from 11-30 to 18-30. Weekends - January 1, May 1, December 25.

How to get there

You can get to Santa Maria delle Grazie:

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

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Last Supper - event last days the 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- This 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 mural by Leonardo da Vinci is located. The Last Supper, created in the years 1495-97, is the most copied work. Already during the Renaissance, about 20 works with the same theme were written by artists from France, Germany and Spain.

Church of Santa Maria della Grazie

The painter received an order to write the work from his patron, the 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 came out, the first thing Leonardo da Vinci ordered was a fresco, which his late wife had once asked for, and forever stopped all entertainment at court.

Sketch

"The Last Supper", description

Leonardo's brush captured Jesus Christ with his apostles during the last supper, before his execution, held in Jerusalem, on the eve of his arrest by the Romans. According to the scriptures, Jesus said during the meal that one of the apostles would betray him (“and when they ate, he said, truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me”). Leonardo da Vinci tried to portray the reaction of each of the students to the teacher's prophetic phrase. The artist, as usual creative people, worked very chaotically. He did not tear himself away for whole days from his work, then he applied only a few strokes. He walked around town, spoke to common people, watched 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 it is 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.

The method of painting with oil paints proved to be very short-lived. Ten years later, together with his students, he tried to carry out the first restoration work. In total, eight restorations were 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 of the air is maintained in the building through special filtering devices. Entrance at a time - no more than 25 people every 15 minutes, and entrance ticket must be ordered in advance.

Da Vinci's cult work is full of 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 hardest thing for Leonardo da Vinci was to write two characters: Jesus and Judas. The artist has long been looking for suitable models to embody the images of good and evil.

Jesus

Once Leonardo saw in the church choir a young singer - so spiritualized 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 the hot spots, but he was lucky only after almost 3 years. In a ditch, there was an absolutely downcast type in a state of strong alcoholic intoxication. They brought him to the workshop. And after the image of Judas was painted, the drunkard approached 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 some artist approached him with a proposal to write Christ from him.

2. The painting contains repeated references to the number three:

The apostles sit in groups of three;

There are three windows behind Jesus;

The contours of the figure of Christ resemble a triangle.

3. The figure of the disciple, located on the right hand of Christ, remains controversial. 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 the painting shows the signature of Leonardo da Vinci - the letter "V".

4. During World War II, on August 15, 1943, the refectory was bombed. The shell that hit the church building destroyed almost everything, except for the wall on which the fresco was depicted. The sandbags prevented the bomb fragments from entering the painting, but vibration could have been harmful.

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 is still the fish in the painting. It is not defined what is painted on the fresco - herring or eel. Scientists see this as encrypted hidden meaning... And all because in Italian "eel" is pronounced like "aringa". And "arringa" means instruction. At the same time, the word "herring" is pronounced in northern Italy as "renga", which means in translation "one who denies religion."

Undoubtedly, Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" is still fraught with many unsolved secrets. And, as soon as they are solved, we will certainly write about it.

The Last Supper is undoubtedly one of the most mysterious works genius Leonardo da Vinci, with whom only his "La Gioconda" can compete in the number of rumors and conjectures.

After the publication of the novel The Da Vinci Code, the fresco decorating the refectory of the Milan 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 regarding the "Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci.

1. WHAT IS THE CORRECTLY CALLED "LAST SUPPER" OF LEONARDO?

Surprisingly, the "Last Supper" only in the Russian version has such a name, in the languages ​​of other countries and the biblical event depicted on the fresco by Leonardo, and the fresco itself bears a much less poetic, but very succinct 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 we have before us 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 translates simply as "refectory".

2. HOW DID THE IDEA OF WRITING THE “LAST SUPPER” COME UP?

Before answering this question, you need to make some clarity about the laws by which the art market lived in the fifteenth century. Actually free market art 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 in Florence had a very strong competitor- Michelangelo, who enjoyed the great location of Lorenzo Medici the 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.

Illustration: Ludovico Sforza and Beatrice d'Este

All these years, da Vinci not only engaged in art, but also designed his famous military vehicles, strong and light bridges and even mills, and also was artistic director mass events... For example, it was Leonardo da Vinci who organized 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 of the Italian Renaissance. Beatrice d'Este was from wealthy Ferrara, and her younger brother... The princess was perfectly 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.

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. Beatrice chose this Dominican monastery for one simple reason - the monastery church was, by the standards of the fifteenth century, a building surpassing the imaginations of the people of that time, so the refectory of the monastery deserved to be decorated by the hand of a master. Unfortunately, Beatrice d'Este herself never saw the Last Supper fresco, she died in childbirth at all young age, she was only 22 years old.

3. HOW MANY YEARS WAS LEONARDO DA VINCI WRITTEN “THE LAST SUPPER”?

There is no correct answer to this question, it is generally accepted that work on the painting began in 1495, proceeded intermittently, and finished by Leonardo around 1498, that is, the next year after the death of Beatrice d'Este. However, since the archives of the monastery were destroyed, exact date the beginning of work on the fresco is unknown, one can only assume that it could not have begun before 1491, since this year the marriage of Beatrice and Ludovico Sforza took place, and if you focus on the few documents that have survived to this day, then, judging by them, the painting was at its final stage already in 1497.

4. IS THE LAST SUPPER OF LEONARDO DA VINCI FRESCA IN THE STRICT UNDERSTANDING OF THIS TERM?

No, in the strict sense, it is not. The fact is that given view painting implies that the artist must paint quickly, that is, work on wet plaster and immediately to the final copy. For Leonardo, who was very meticulous and did not recognize the work immediately, it was completely unacceptable, so da Vinci invented a special soil made of resin, gabs and mastic and wrote "The Last Supper" on dry basis. On the one hand, he was able to make numerous changes to the painting, and on the other, it was precisely because of painting on a dry surface that the canvas began to deteriorate very quickly.

5. WHAT MOMENT IS PICTURED 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 disciples' reaction to his words.

6. WHO IS SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF CHRIST: THE APOSTLE JOHN OR MARY MAGDALINA?

There is no unequivocal answer to this question, the rule is strictly working here, who believes in what - he sees it. Especially, state of the art"The Last Supper" is very far from what da Vinci's contemporaries saw the fresco. But, it should be said, the figure on the right hand of Christ did not surprise or 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 secret conspiracy and portrayed Mary Magdalene at the Last Supper, or is it just an artistic tradition - to portray John as a feminine youth. Decide for yourself.

7. WHAT IS THE INNOVATION OF THE “LAST SUPPER”, WHY IS THEY SAY THAT LEONARDO TOTALLY WASTE FROM THE CLASSIC CANONS?

First of all, in realism. The fact is that, creating his masterpiece, Leonardo decided to move away from the canons of painting on biblical themes that existed at that time, he wanted to achieve such an effect so that the monks who dined in the hall physically felt the presence of the Savior. That is why all household items were copied from those items that were used by the monks of the Dominican monastery: the same tables at which Leonardo's contemporaries ate, the same utensils, the same dishes, yes, even the landscape outside the window resembles a view from the windows a refectory as it was in the fifteenth century.

Photo: 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 through the windows of the refectory, in many places of the painting there is golden ratio, and due to the fact that Leonardo was able to correctly reproduce the depth of perspective, the fresco after the completion of the work was three-dimensional, that is, in fact, it was made with a 3D effect. Unfortunately, now, this effect can be seen 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 WRITTEN CHRIST, JUDU AND OTHER CHARACTERS OF THE Fresco?

All the characters in the fresco were painted from Leonardo's contemporaries, they say that the artist constantly walked the streets of Milan and looked for suitable types, which even caused the displeasure of the abbot of the monastery, who considered that the artist was not spending 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 abbot 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 street of Milan.

Judas on the fresco "The Last Supper"

When Leonardo brought the extra to his studio, it turned out that the same man 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. Such a wicked irony! In the light of this information, the well-known historical anecdote that the man from whom Leonardo wrote to Judas told everyone that he was depicted in the "Last Supper" in the image of Christ, acquires a completely different meaning.

9. IS THERE A PORTRAIT OF LEONARDO ON THE Fresco?

There is a theory that the "Last Supper" also has a self-portrait of Leonardo, allegedly the artist is present on the fresco in the image of the Apostle Thaddeus - this is the second figure from the right.

The image of the Apostle Thaddeus on the fresco and portraits of Leonardo da Vinci

The truth of this statement is still in question, but an analysis of Leonardo's portraits clearly demonstrates a strong outward resemblance with the image on the fresco.

10. HOW IS THE LAST SUPPER RELATED TO THE NUMBER 3?

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 coincidental, because the number 3 constantly appears in the New Testament. It is not only about the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit, the number 3 also goes through the entire description of Jesus' earthly ministry.

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 three days and three nights should have been the Son of God in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12:40), that is, Jesus was in hell since the evening Friday through Sunday morning, in addition, the Apostle Peter denied Jesus Christ three times before the cock crowed (by the way, the prediction of this also sounded at the Last Supper), three crosses were raised on Calvary, and Christ was resurrected on the morning of the third day after the crucifixion.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION:

Tickets for visiting "The Last Vespers" must be booked 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 expected visit, free tickets for the required dates are usually available. You can order tickets on the website:, the cost depends on the season, in winter a visit to the "Last Supper" costs 8 euros, in the summer - 12 euros (prices according to information for 2016). In addition, nowadays, you can often see resellers near the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie selling tickets with a surcharge of 2-3 euros, so if you are lucky, you can get there by accident. Taking pictures of the mural is prohibited, entrance is strictly according to the time indicated on the ticket.

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Yulia Malkova- Julia Malkova - founder of the site project. In past Chief Editor internet project elle.ru and chief editor of the site cosmo.ru. I'm talking about travel for my own pleasure and the pleasure of my readers. If you are a representative of hotels, tourism office, but we are not familiar, you can contact me by email: [email protected]

Vyacheslav Adrov:

Announcement...

In Milan, in the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie, there is famous fresco, which haunted numerous researchers of the personality of its author for hundreds of years. Since this is Leonardo himself, it is believed that in his work there must be some kind of secret or, at least, a riddle. There are many ideas and versions about the secret messages embedded in the fresco. For example, Dan Brown's version, which caused a lot of noise in the art world. I, like everyone else, looked closely at the image and, what do you think - it seems to me that I understood its additional meaning (if it was laid down)! And Dan Brown's version is just a superficial reaction to the detail necessary to reflect the author's overall intent. Moreover, a detail (a woman-like figure next to Christ), which carries a completely different semantic load... No hints at the life companion of Christ!

In order to preserve emotionality and dynamics of thought, I decided to record thoughts and intellectual impulses as they arise and are realized. Thus, I have preserved the atmosphere of research, writing down the next portion of my mental developments, I still do not know whether they will be useful in the future and, generally speaking, how will it all end? Do you get any interesting results? Therefore, in the subtitle, this is how the genre is designated.

The mystery of the fresco by Leonardo da Vinci "The Last Supper"

(detective investigation of one biased gazing at the famous mural)

Part 1.

I start as usual. Returning from another trip organized by the 7 Summits Club, sitting in a rocking chair, wrapped in a blanket, looking at the raging fire tongues of the fireplace stove and sipping ... (insert yourself: pipe, cigar, cognac, calvados, ...), I thought about and evaluated the results of the trip, prepared for the next one. And then I came across (or surfaced in my imagination) a reproduction of the fresco "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci. As befits a normal traveler, I, of course, was in the same refectory of the Santa Maria della Grazie monastery in Milan. And, of course, he admired (and now even more so) one of greatest creations master (although almost nothing is visible on it, photo 1).

Briefly, to refresh your memory. The fresco (although, in fact, this image is not a fresco due to the peculiarities of the technology of its creation) has dimensions of 450 * 870 cm and was created in the period from 1495 to 1498 by order of the Duke Ludovico Sforza and his wife, Beatrice d'Este. Due to the fact that it was not created as a typical fresco - painted with egg tempera on a dry wall covered with layers of resin, plaster and mastic - it began to deteriorate very early and was restored many times. At the same time, the attitude of the restorers to her was not always distinguished by such piety, as is customary now - faces, figures were getting better, various technologies of applying paint and a protective coating were used. When an attempt was made to move it to another location in 1821, it was nearly destroyed. Needless to say, the attitude of the French invaders towards her, who set up an armory and prisoners in the monastery (there was such an episode in the history of the refectory).

A little about the plot. He is inspired by the biblical story of the last dinner with Jesus' disciples, at which he said that one of those present would betray him. According to most art historians, Leonardo's work is the most expressive of all such works on this subject, conveying the degree of emotional reaction of the apostles to these words of Jesus.

As long as this fresco has existed (more than 500 years), the same number of years researchers and interpreters study this work, finding or trying to find secret signs, symbols, riddles, messages, ... Here and surprise at the quality of the transmitted perspective, evidence of the use of the golden ratio, the search for the secret of the number 3 (3 windows, 3 groups of apostles, the triangle of the figure of Christ). Someone sees on the fresco the image of Mary Magdalene (with the female symbol V and the symbol M associated with her name - this is about Dan Brown), or John the Baptist with his favorite gesture - raised up forefinger... All this is interesting to me, but not very much. As our man - an engineer - Leonardo must be practical, although historical setting makes his own adjustments to the need to use "Aesop's language", and he could leave DATE on his work! Which one? This is his choice, but the date is important for himself or for the whole World of the event. And I started looking for her in the image!

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

So, I begin to peer and examine.

Apostles. Most likely (because of their number) these are symbols of the signs of the zodiac. But how can the signs be distributed among the characters, to whom which sign corresponds? Several remarks immediately arise.

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

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

Bartholomew, Jacob Alfeyev, Andrew, Judas Iscariot, Peter, John, Jesus Christ, Thomas, Jacob Zebedeev, Philip, Matthew, Judas Thaddeus, Simon.

To identify the signs by which it would be possible to recognize allusions to the signs of the zodiac in the apostles, I tried to collect available factual information about the biographies of the characters, while not knowing what might come in handy from this (table 1):

Their other names and nicknames;

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

Approximate age based on visual assessment of images (more by copy unknown artist(photo2);

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

The occupation of the apostles prior to their ministry;

The circumstances of the death;

Location of the graves and relics of the apostles.

I suggest that those who wish to clarify and add details for a more complete filling of the table - this is very interesting, and the information can be useful.

Finding information to fill out this table was very interesting and cognitive process, but he didn’t come up with any ideas I needed!

Let's continue. Since Leonardo arranged the apostles in groups of 3, and even mixed them there, then maybe the order of the signs is not important to him? Suddenly, if you really beat these triplets - these are groupings of signs by types of elements ?! Fire, earth, air, water? And what - 4 groups of 3 characters! Or maybe it is necessary to take into account the figure of Christ as a sign of the zodiac, and exclude Judas from consideration altogether !? Indeed, in almost all images of the Last Supper, artists separated Judas from the rest - either they painted with very dark paints, or turned his face away from the viewer, or, like in icons, deprived him, unlike the others, of a halo. And then - what sign can the figure of Christ represent? Maybe his sign is Capricorn? Then it seems like the division into groups is violated and the division into groups itself loses its meaning (if any). Yes, and Judas at Leonardo visual means not very belittled. He, like 7 (!) Other of the 12 apostles, is depicted in profile, but only slightly more turned away from the viewer.

We will further consider the details of the image. Objects on the table: maybe there are clues somewhere - filling and arrangement of glasses, arrangement of breads, plates, salt shakers, other objects, ...? Elements, colors of clothes,…? Hairstyles, the degree of gray hair, the presence and length of the beard,…? Stop! Beard! In total, there are seven visible planets and known before the invention of Galileo's pipe, together with the Sun and the Moon, and also Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Thus, the maximum number of pointers to the planets is 7. We count beards: in total, of different lengths, there are 8. Together with the beard of Jesus. But maybe his beard shouldn't be counted? I wonder who is the Sun then, if not him ?! Go ahead - hands. Who's holding what? Maybe some combinations on your fingers? Their mutual position? We fill in the table further so that it is constantly before our eyes. Maybe not right away, but something will open?

Swaying in a chair, sipping ... Or maybe the bearded ones are planets after all, and, for example, some kind of comet? But, after all, out of seven planets, two - female: Venus and the Moon, it is somehow difficult to associate with beards and them too. Let's take a closer look at the apostles: the artist gave two figures a clear feminine appearance: John and Philip - both faces and poses with crossed arms. Maybe this is an allusion to the "female planets"? Again I swing in a chair: Leonardo da Vinci during his lifetime was not going to be famous for centuries and wrote the fresco for the Customer and his contemporaries, so that they, with a slight strain of mind, could understand his additional message (except for semantic and aesthetic).

And what is there in the hand of Judas? And Peter? No, Judas, apparently, has a bag of silver coins, which he will soon receive, and Peter has a knife, probably as a symbol of his future (ostentatious?) Determination in the process of arresting Jesus. All these are semantic attributes.

Still, you have to decide. I put forward a hypothesis. The viewer's gaze is instinctively attracted to the figure of Jesus - this is God, this is the Sun! On his right hand - a young, but very energetic and aggressive man (John), whom Jesus, like his brother - Jacob Zavedeev - called Voanerges (Boanerges) - apparently, "very, twice energetic"! They reacted very aggressively and sometimes with anger to injustice, humiliation and insults, and to what was not going the way they would like! Moreover, completely in the style of Caucasians, so that Christ had to restrain them! (this is where the pre-collected information in table1 came in handy -

This implies that they had appropriate hormonal levels and secondary sex characteristics. And how do we see this aggressive person in Leonardo - yes, this is a humble girl, such that some ( Dan Brown) she is considered a woman - Mary Magdalene! With such a clear discrepancy Leonardo hints - this is the constellation of Virgo! And now let us once again pay attention to Jacob Zebedeev, whose figure (and NOT FACE) is the closest to the left of Christ. He spread his arms in different directions. According to commentators, he restrains the apostles who emotionally perceived the words of Christ (or, perhaps, physically protects Jesus from a possible uncontrolled release of energy (this is him, Voanerges!). And what do I see? With his arms outstretched, he looks like ... a Libra! !! Then it turns out that Jesus the Sun is between the constellations Virgo and Libra! And all the signs are arranged in the usual order - from Aries to Pisces! And where are the other planets, except for the Sun? I get up to sit in a rocking chair. spread out tables, printouts of the fresco. Mama mia! (I hit myself on the forehead!) Yes, there they are, the signs of the planets! Simply obvious! In the most conspicuous place! handle, well, and a little sway in the chair.

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

If we talk about monuments of art and culture, which have 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 the master was inspired by God's spark to write it, and someone insists that for the sake of such skill he sold his soul to the devil. But one thing is indisputable - the skill and thoroughness with which the artist recreated all the nuances of the scene from the Gospel, still remains an unattainable dream for most painters.

So what are the secrets behind this image? Read - and find out!

The scene of the last supper of Christ with his disciples

The history of the painting

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

The fresco is placed in the Dominican temple of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Her writing lasted three whole years (whereas usually it 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, so that he could 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's condition. The painting began to deteriorate 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 plan

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 path of the Lord to the cross, as to the last battle with evil and death. At this 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 will. But at the same time, someone may reject this possibility - after all, God is not only love, but also freedom, and this demonstrates to us the act of Judas.

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

First sketches of the Last Supper. Found in the Venice Academy

In addition, the painter abandoned traditional icon-painting canons in favor of a realistic and natural image. At that time, painting Jesus and the apostles without the usual crowns, halos and mandorles (a golden glow 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 agreed 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 enigma. And it is around The Last Supper that there are a lot of such prejudices and hoaxes. So, what secrets did the creator encrypt?

According to historians studying creative heritage the Renaissance, the most difficult thing was given to 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 models in any way. But once during a service, he saw a young singer in the church choir - his young face was so spiritualized and impeccable that the painter immediately realized that it was this person who could become a type of Christ. But even after his figure was painted, the artist corrected and corrected it for a long time, trying to achieve perfection.

The prototype of Judas and Jesus, Leonardo drew from one model, 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, wandered for hours in low-standard taverns and ports, trying to find someone whose face would serve 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 himself to wake up from the 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 his contemporaries, this proved how thin the line between a prosperous life and a fall is - and how easy it is to cross it!

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 less wander around the city in search of sitters! Finally, the painter got 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 portrayed in a painting based on 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 disagree with this, claiming that the outlines of bodies can be connected only in the letter "V" - da Vinci's initials.

Jesus and Mary Magdalene on the fresco of the Last Supper

But there are other confirmations that the 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 this could only be done by a woman who is legally married to a man. In addition, some apocrypha argue that at the time of the crucifixion of the Lord on Calvary, Mary was pregnant, and her daughter Sarah became the progenitor of the French royal dynasty Merovingian.

Placement of figures and objects

The Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci is distinguished not only by the realism and liveliness of human figures - the master carefully worked out the space around them, and the 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 zodiacal circle. So, if you adhere to 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 was already 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 also 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 already in those days was considered a sign that foreshadows trouble), and besides, his plate is empty. This is a sign that he could not accept the grace given by the coming of the Lord, rejected His gift.

Even the fish served to the referee serves as a reason for disputes. Art critics have long argued about what exactly Leonardo portrayed. Some say that this is herring - its Italian name, "aringa", is consonant with "arringare" - teaching, preaching, instruction. But according to others, this 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 more than once found itself under the threat of destruction. So, during World War II, an artillery shell that flew into the window of the church disfigured and partially destroyed all the walls - except for the one where the work was written!

The famous painting still exists - and opens before us more and more secrets, the solution of which is yet to come. In the meantime, you can admire numerous copies and reproductions made from the most different materials... For example, the Last Supper made of amber, poured out of semi-precious crumbs and inlaid with large stones, is simply amazing - it combines masterful performance and the mystery of the original!