THE
LAST SUPPER
The story of the painting, The
Last Supper, is extremely interesting and instructive.
Leonardo Da Vinci, a noted
Italian artist, painted The Last Supper. The
time engaged for its completion was seven years.
The figures representing the twelve Apostles and Christ himself were
painted from living persons. The
life-model for the painting of the figure of Jesus was chosen first.
When it was decided that Da
Vinci would paint this great picture, hundreds and hundreds of young men were
carefully viewed in an endeavor to find a face and personality exhibiting
innocence and beauty, free from the scars and signs of dissipation caused by
sin.
Finally, after weeks of
laborious searching, a young man nineteen years of age was selected as a model
for the portrayal of Christ. For
six months, Da Vici worked on the production of this leading character of his
famous painting.
During the next six years, Da
Vici continued his labors on this sublime work of art.
One by one fitting persons were chosen to represent each of the eleven
Apostles; space being left for the painting of the figure representing Judas
Iscariot as the final task of this masterpiece.
This was the Apostle, you remember, who betrayed his Lord for thirty
pieces of silver, worth in our present day currency of $16.96.
For weeks, Da Vinci searched
for a man with a hard callous face, with a countenance marked by the scars of
avarice, deceit, hypocrisy and crime; a face that would delineate a character
who would betray his best friend.
After many discouraging experiences in searching for the type o person required
to represent Judas, word came to Da Vinci that a man whose appearance fully met
his requirements had been found in a dungeon in Rome, sentenced to die for a
life of crime and murder.
Da Vinci made the trip to Rome at once, and this man was brought out from his
imprisonment in the dungeon and led out into the light of the sun. There Da
Vinci saw before him a dark, swarthy man; his long, shaggy and unkempt hair
sprawled over his face, which betrayed a character of viciousness and complete
ruin. At last, the famous painter had found the person he wanted to represent
the character of Judas in his painting.
By sepcial permission from the
king, this prisoner was carried to Milan where the picture was being painted.
For months he sat before Da Vinci at appointed hours each day as the
gifted artist diligently continued his task of transmitting to his painting this
base character in the picture representing the traitor and betrayer of our
Saviour. As he finished his last
stroke, he turned to the guards and said, “ I have finished.
You may take the prisoner away.”
As the guards were leading
their prisoner away, he suddenly broke loose from their control and rushed up to
Da Vinci, crying as he did so, “ Oh Da Vinci, look at me!
Do you not know who I am?”
Da Vinci, with trained eyes of
a great character student, carefully scrutinized the man upon whose face he had
constantly gazed for six months and replied, “ No, I have never seen you in my
life until you were brought before me out of the dungeon in Rome.”
Then, lifting his eyes toward
heaven, the prisoner said, “ Oh God! Have
I fallen so low?” Then turning
his face to the painter he cried, “ Leonardo Da Vinci!
Look at me again for I am the same man you painted just seven years ago
as the figure of Christ.”
This is the true story of the
painiting of The Last Supper that teaches so strongly the lesson of the effects
of right or wrong thinking on the life of an individual.
Here was a young man whose character was so pure, unspoiled by the sins
of the world that he presented a countenance of innocence and beauty fit to be
used for the painting of a representation of Christ. But within seven years,
following the thoughts of sin and a life of crime, he was changed into a perfect
picture of the most traitorous character ever known in the history of the world.