"Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci. Secrets and riddles

For many art historians and "The Last Supper" Leonardo da Vinci - the greatest work. This fresco, measuring 15 x 29 feet, was created between the years 1495-1497. The artist executed it on the wall of the refectory in the Milan convent of Santa Maria Grazie. Even in the era when Leonardo lived, this work was considered the best and most famous. According to written testimonies, the picture began to deteriorate already in the first twenty years of its existence. "Da Vinci's Last Supper" was painted on a dry plaster with a large layer of egg tempera. Under the paint was a composite rough sketch, inscribed in red. The customer of the fresco was Ludovico Sforza - Milan Duke.

"The Last Supper" is a picture of the moment Jesus Christ declared to his disciples that one of them would betray him. The personality of the apostles was repeatedly the subject of disputes, but judging by the copies of the inscription that are kept in Lugano, from left to right it is: Bartholomew, younger Jacob, Andrew, Judah, Peter, John, Thomas, senior Jacob, Philip, Matthew, Thaddeus, Simon Zelot. Art critics believe that the composition should be interpreted as an interpretation of Communion, because both hands Christ points to a table with bread and wine.

Unlike other similar paintings, The Last Supper shows a surprising variety of emotions of characters, caused by the message of Jesus. No other creation, based on the same story, can not even be compared to a da Vinci masterpiece. What secrets in the work did the well-known artist encipher?

The authors of the work The Discovery of the Templars, Lynne Picknett and Clive Prince, claim that The Last Supper is filled with encrypted symbols. First, to the right of Jesus (for the viewer on the left), in their opinion, it's not John sitting at all, but some woman in a dress contrasting with the clothes of Christ. The space between them resembles the letter "V", while the figures themselves form the letter "M". Secondly, they believe that next to the image of Peter in the picture, you can see a certain hand with a compressed knife, which can not be attributed to any of the characters. Thirdly, pictured to the left of Jesus (for the viewer on the right), Thomas raised his finger to Christ, which, according to the authors, is a gesture typical of John the Baptist. Finally, fourthly, there is a hypothesis that Thaddeus, who is sitting with his back to Jesus, is a self-portrait of da Vinci himself.

Let's figure it out in order. Indeed, if you look closely at the picture, you can see that the person sitting to the right of Christ (for the viewer on the left) has feminine features. Are there any symbolic load of the letters "V" and "M" formed by the contours of bodies? Prince and Piknett argue that this arrangement of figures contains a hint that the character with female features is Mary Magdalene, and not John at all. In this case, the letter "V" symbolizes the feminine principle. And "M" just means the name - Mary Magdalene.

As for the body, which is devoid of the body, it can be seen at the close examination that it belongs to Peter, he just turned it over, which explains the unusual situation. As for Thomas, who raised his index finger up like John the Baptist, there's nothing to say particularly. Disputes on this score can last for a long time, but you can decide whether to agree or not with such an assumption. Apostle Thaddeus, as noted by Prince and Picknett, and the truth has some similarities with Leonardo da Vinci himself. In general, in many of the artist's paintings devoted to Christ or the Holy Family, one can see the same detail: at least one of the figures is turned towards the main character with his back.

"The Last Supper" was recently restored, which made it possible to learn a lot about it. But the true meaning of forgotten symbols and secret messages is still unclear, therefore new assumptions and guesses are born. Who knows, maybe, someday, we will be able to at least a little learn about the plans of the great master.