I've always had a few Questions about this picture. Everyone talks hidden meanings about the picture, ie Mary being pictured next to Jesus, but I've always had questions about the picture itself. First the table, I've read somewhere that the table used in the Last Supper, was U shaped, which was custom at the time and not the european style used in the pic. And also where did the chairs come from, i always thought that set and ate on the floors using mats and pillows to sit on. These where just a few questions i had, any info would be great.

Wow Beastie, you ask questions about things I have never thought about. I am sure that Leonardo was not a great historian, art was his gig. Therefore, he probably assumed that the Jews of the 1st century used the same furniture that was used in the 14th-15th century. Either that (if he did know the difference) or he was aware of the abysmal education of the viewers of this painting and put in furniture they would understand. The original Hebrew table was an oval woven mat of heavy reeds place upon a stool (not very tall as you can see) and the users squatted around it. Chairs have been around since the First Dynastic period of ancient Egypt, but were too expensive for all put the rich or noble. By the time that the Last Supper would have taken place, the Greeks and the Romans would have had some impact upon the Jewish way of life (not religion, but day to day living), so it is quite feasible that the Jews adopted either Greek or Roman furniture to some extent. The table used by both the Greeks and the Romans was (by our standards) rather low and since chairs were usually “ceremonial” (the Roman chair was called the solim and was used by the master of the house to receive business visitors in the atrium), in all probability either the table users sat on the floor or on stools. So yes, I agree, the table and chairs in the “Last Supper” are probably anachronisms and used to impart familiarity or for dramatic effect.

ahhh, cool thanks for the info. LOL its funny b/c i kinda knew that you would probly be the one to give some of the best info on this!

De nada amigo....actually Beowulf would have done better or even CD, but CD is off traveling the world (at government expense) and Beowulf is busy on a rather big project, so that only left me to answer it. Some I already knew, some I had to Google - I mean, how many people know how long chairs have been around, off the top of their head. I learned as much as you did on this one!

cool, im glad that the post was useful then!

The Jews did adopt the dining methods of the roman elite for their ritual feasts. Jesus' Last Supper would have been served at two or more tables depending on the number of men at the meal. Each table was square and had three straw mattresses to serve as couches. No more than nine guests and no fewer than three would be served at each table. the guest of honor would take the most important place and the host would take the least important. everyone else would be placed according to how the host thought of their honor and social standing. the guests would lay down to eat with their hands and be served by servants.

and that is probably more than you ever wanted to know, but if you want to know more about jewish feasts, try the Handbook for Biblical Social Values where i got all the above information.

You are certainly not alone in questioning the painting itself. To this very day, Leonardo still baffles even the most expert of art historians.
The one thing to always keep in mind is that Leonardo painted his own personal interpretation of The Last Supper as well as that he had to satisfy his patrons. He was well-aware of the event being a seder. However, it wouldn't have been appropriate nor satisfactory to render The Last Supper as such. That he was able to "hide" his own impressions and imaginations within The Last Supper (and many of his other works) defined his genius.

The painters of the time painted biblical scenes in contemporary settings. That is why the picture has a medieval feel. Also, that is John, not Mary, depicted next to Jesu. It was tradition at the time to depict John as being young and somewhat feminine. The two problems are solved by simply observing the artistic trends of the time.

How convenient is it that John just so happens to look feminine. No one actually knows what the people looked like since there are no original paintings or drawings and the discriptions from the bible are fantisized. In reality if JC was a practicing jew he would have had a wife, end of discussion. The catholics had a hand in creating the feminine john as well as mary m being a whore and the whole virgin birth thing along with many other fairytales.

again wioth the last supper-anyone ever here of matzoh? neither leonardo nor the authors of the n.t. had. of course, they were writing 300 years later, by command of Emperor Theodosius, for a pagan/xian audience who knew nothing about jewish customs.

Actually, that would be the Bible. John being a feminine figure was just the artistic trend of his representation, it has nothing whatsoever to do with theology.

Did Da Vinci tell you that the feminine figure was John? Untill he does.. then we'll never really know for sure, and it will always be up for personal feel and interpratation.

Where you see John... I see Mary.

da vinci was bisexual, and liked to hint at it with his androgynous studies. anyone ever see his statue of david?

In this day and age, since most of the broadcasting industry is owned by bisexual, homosexual and all sexual degenerated homunculi, they think that they have the right to spread that even Alexander the Great was bisexual!

This is the way, for the homunculi, to justify degeneration!

The way this is going on, I won't be surprised if evolutionists will start the rumors that bisexuality started with dinosaurs and Catholics will start asseverating in the name of God that it started with Adam and Eve!

loge-i think you just like to argue-da vinci's sexuality was well-know in his own times-in the renaissance things were different than now, and alexander was definitely so bisexual it would be more correct to say he was gay-times were different long ago before xians perverted everything.

The history of this humanity is made up by the broadcasted rumors of degenerated people and by those who win wars and by those who want to be accepted as 'normal" amongst the ignorance of this bizarre populace!

Nero the emperor of Rome was not homosexual, Leonardo da vinci was not bisexual; Alexander the great was not bisexual either! You don’t believe it? Well this is how it is registered in the atmosphere or secret memories of Nature called by the sages Akasic records and any clairvoyant can verify this, nevertheless, this is not important because even if the entire world will believe the contrary, the facts are written in the memories of nature and these won’t change even if we write books asseverating the contrary in all of the languages of the world!

Likewise the teachings of Christ; these are recorded in the memories of nature. “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” or in other words, you can burn all the Bibles of the world, yet, the word of Christ will be found again and agian, because it is written in the Akasic records. The coming of Christ was written in the Akasic records long ago before the incarnation of the word in the body of Jesus, more over, even before the creation of this planet earth. The cosmic drama was also represented in Atlantis by the great Manu Vaisvasvatha exactly as Jesus did it two thousand years ago; this is how it is recorded in the memory-waves of the atmosphere of this planet. So, the gospels are eternal and not as the theories of the world that change as women’s fashion.

Please consider that Leonardo could not paint The Last Supper as a jewish feast, a seder. His patronage would not accept it. Just like the angles and saints he painted without halos. He had to add them after they were rejected.
The debate over John/Magdalene has been conjecture for the last 20 years. Only Leonardo knew. No one else will ever know.