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Leonardo da Vinci painted the Last Supper on an end wall of a monks’ dining hall at a monastery in Italy (1495 -1498). So skilled was he, that the scene in the painting looks like an extension of the actual hall, and the monks might have been forgiven for thinking that Jesus and His disciples were in the same room as they were.

 

Of course, it just wouldn’t do to have the fair-faced monks share their meals with a group of swarthy Jewish characters eating the requisite kosher Passover meal of unleavened bread, the pascal lamb, wine and bitter herbs. As every good storyteller knows, you don’t let the facts get in the way of a good tale, so Leonardo played to his audience, stretching the boundaries of artistic licence. Jesus and His disciples became westernised, and the feast included well-risen bread with a popular dish of the day, (un-kosher) grilled eels garnished with orange slices!

 

Before we judge Leonardo too harshly, maybe we should recognise that we’re also guilty of viewing and judging history and art through our own 21st century “cultural lenses”. 

 

Maybe the best way to truly experience a great work of art is to look with the eyes of the heart and just let the beauty wash over us.

 

“Art is a lie that makes us realise truth” (Pablo Picasso)