Posted on 08/19/2012 6:32:32 AM PDT by JoeProBono
ROME, - A British art expert says two of the figures in Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper" are actually self-portraits of the artist.
Ross King said this week that while not a lot is known about Da Vinci's physical appearance at the time he painted "The Last Supper," he is confident the noses on two of the apostles are a giveaway.
King has concluded the long hair, beards and Greek noses on the two matched up with a portrait of the Italian master drawn years later. Greek noses and prominent hair, King said, were "rarities for an Italian man of that period."
Italy's ANSA news agency said art historians long suspected Da Vinci painted himself into the work, but King told The Independent that no one had really taken the time to seriously look for it.
I was just thinking. It's a wall painting, It's deteriorated over the centuries, and has been repaired a number of times.
My point being that the faces are no longer what Da Vinci created.
From Wiki:
This restoration [most recent] took 21 years and on May 28, 1999 the painting was put back on display, ... When it was unveiled, considerable controversy was aroused by the dramatic changes in colours, tones, and even some facial shapes.
I think that’s Larry Fine 4th on the right.
I have always been a fan of DaVinci. Bought the Dover two volume edition of his notebooks in the '70s. Sounds like you found the same thing from another publisher. There is a lot of material there to go through. I found it fascinating but it doesn't read like a book since it's a collection of notes and sketches.
I read more about what his life and what the times in Florence were like from biographies like "(LDV;) Pathfinder of Science" by Henry S. Gillette.
You're quite right about that. Undoubtedly some fine detail has been lost and altered. Even the original wasn't exactly a photograph that facial recognition software could pull an accurate identity out of.
But an 'expert' could. /s lol
Good find from Wiki!
I found it amusing that DaVinci might have to use his own face for lack of subjects. He was considered a prolific artist in a place and time of prolific artists. Also, the Last Supper was painted on a wall in a monastery where there were many men who would have had at least some time to sit for a sketch and would have been glad to assist the Maestro in a noble project done primarily for their benefit.
There is a much earlier depiction of the Last Supper in Ravenna in the basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo (possibly 6th century A.D.). It has everyone on the same side, but with Jesus at one end (extreme left from the viewer’s perspective). Supposedly that was the custom so that the servers could bring the food and set it before people easily.
Now let Brown write a book about the prophet Mohamed and Islam like he writes about Catholic Church and see whether he can afford the needed security.
http://www.amazon.com/Rethinking-Tradition-Islamic-Thought-Cambridge/dp/0521653940
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Last Supper in Ravenna in the basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo 6th-century mosaic
New Delhi (ENI). Some Indian Christians are so incensed with the fictional blockbuster “The Da Vinci Code” they want the government to ban it and one Roman Catholic has offered a bounty of US$25 000 on the head of author Dan Brown, leaving other members of the faithful embarrassed by the reaction.
Thanks—a beautiful mosaic. But why are there two fishes on the plate? Moses said to take a male lamb, either from the sheep or the goats, for the Passover meal...nothing about fish.
Moses had no fish in the desert.
The first Passover was celebrated while the Israelites were still in Egypt...there were fish in the Nile.
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