DA VINCI: THE LAST SUPPER



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the Wanderling

And Jesus said unto him "Truly I say to you, That this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you shall deny me three times." Mark 14:30


The painting of The Last Supper by the famed and venerated Renaissance artist, scientist, and polymath, Leonardo Da Vinci, depicts the exact moment Christ tells his apostles, "One of you will betray me." The apostles react, caught in that moment, each according to his own personality. Referring back to the Gospels, Leonardo depicts Philip asking, "Lord, is it I?" Christ replies, "He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me (Matthew 26: 21-22). Christ and Judas are shown simultaneously reaching toward a plate that lies between them, even as Judas defensively backs away. In his other hand, Judas clutches the bag containing the 30 pieces of silver.[1]

By clicking the graphic of Da Vinci's The Last Supper directly below it will take you to a page from Google's Arts and Culture that has a fully expandable image of the Da Vinci's work that appears in the Royal Academy of Arts London, United Kingdom. It was painted by two of Leonardo's most talented students, Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio and Giampietrinoc during the years 1515 through 1520 just before and up to Leonardo's death. It was done by the two artists using Da Vinci's working drawings and well before the original began to deteriorate or being ruined by Napoleon's soldiers who used it as a stable and bombings during World War II.[2]

The Google Arts and Culture page is absolutely fabulous. When the Last Supper graphic comes up you will notice a small image of a magnifying glass in the lower right corner. Clicking that image will allow you roll over and greatly expand aby portion of the painting you so choose. For example, if you are one of those people that believes the image of the apostle John, sitting just of Jesus' right (your left as viewing the painting), is actually an image of Mary Magdalene, click the magnifying glass symbol, scroll to and roll the apostle's face to increase to a larger size to see for yourself. If you are a critic to such a possibility do the same thing and determine if there's no chance in the world it could ever be her rather than the apostle John.[3]


DA VINCI: THE LAST SUPPER, SANTA MARIA DELLA GRAZI, MILAN, ITALY (1498)

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COMISMO ROSSELLI: THE LAST SUPPER, SISTINE CHAPEL, VATICAN CITY (1482)

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When I was around 10 years old my Stepmother introduced me to a man she was acquainted with in some fashion by the name of Johnny Roselli. Following that introduction he was in and out of my young-to-mid adult life on a semi-regular basis. However, Johnny Roselli was not his real name, but a name he took for himself some years after immigrating to the U.S. from his native Italy. His birth name was Filippo Sacco. When he followed his family to America and found himself getting into a few scrapes with the law as a teenager he moved away from his family home, changing his name in the process. According to his own accounts he selected his last name from an Italian Renaissance artist named Cosimo Rosselli, not only for what he was known for as an artist but how the name sounded when it rolled off his tongue. The difference in spelling is because when he first started using it he spelled it phonetically.

Cosimo Rosselli studied in Florence during the height of the Renaissance at the same time Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Da Vinci. Although never as famous as some of his more honored peers, Rosselli was known for a number of highly received works during during that period, most notedly for one of the two most famous of the Last Supper paintings in Europe, his on one of the walls in the Sistine Chapel, the other by Leonardo Da Vinci, painted elsewhere. Even though Johnny Roselli had all the outward appearances of being a well educated and highly cultured most of it came in later years. How or when he became aware of Cosimo Rosselli is not fully known.

Be sure to see the a complete expandable, moveable street view of the painting as seen in it's present location, the Royal Academy of Arts London, available by going to the Google Arts and Culture link previously cited. The cartoon panel below, showing Da Vinci agonizing over the exact time that his painting The Last Supper will depict, is from True Comics, March 1947. I carried a copy of that comic all over with me when I was a kid because I used it as a guide to build and fly a flying machine based on a Leonardo design. Just think, it was only a comic book and I wasn't even 10 years old yet, but I was learning about flying machines, Leonardo Da Vinci, the Apostles and the Last Supper all without being forced to or by school.


THE APOSTLES

LEONARDO DA VINCI: 500 YEARS TOO SOON, TRUE COMICS, MARCH 1947, ISSUE # 58

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BARTHOLOMEW

Preached the Gospel in Mesopotamia (Iraq), Persia (Iran), Turkey, Armenia and India. He was skinned alive and beheaded at Derbent (Azerbaijan, near Russia) on the Caspian Sea by order of a local king after a majority of the people of Derbent converted to Christianity. Some of Bartholomew’s skin and bones are still kept in The Basilica of St. Bartholomew in Rome, a part of his skull is in Frankfurt, Germany and an arm is venerated at the Canterbury Cathedral in England (skinned alive and beheaded).


JAMES THE LESSER

Believed to have preached in Damascus (Syria) and acknowledged as the first bishop of the Christians in Jerusalem (Israel). Historians say he was sentenced to be stoned-to-death by the Jews for challenging Jewish Laws and for convincing some of members of the Jewish community to convert to Christianity. James died when during the stoning, one person from the crowd approached him and bashed his head with a fullers club (a piece of wood used for bashing-washing clothes). He was buried on the spot where he died, somewhere in Jerusalem (stoned and clubbed-to-death).


ANDREW

Preached in Georgia (Russia), Istanbul (Turkey), Macedonia and finally Greece. There in Patros, Greece, the Governor Aegiatis was angered by the apostle’s preaching and the conversion of his own family to Christianity. He ordered Andrew to renounce his faith in front of a tribunal. When Andrew resisted, the governor ordered that Andrew be crucified. He was tied upside down to an X-shaped cross with thick, tight ropes but Andrew kept preaching to spectators. He was able to convince many to accept Christianity just before he died after suffering for three days. Parts of his remains are in Constantinople (Turkey), Scotland (United Kingdom), but his skull is kept in Patras to this day (crucified upside down on an X-shaped cross).


JUDAS ISCARIOT

Best known as the apostle who betrayed the Lord by divulging His location, leading to His arrest and persecution. He received 30 pieces of silver from Jewish priests for the information he gave. Prior to this, Judas served as the treasurer of the 12 Apostles; in charge of keeping the group’s budget/money. Sources could not agree on how he died. There are three accepted versions: (1) he committed suicide by hanging himself to a tree, (2) he accidentally fell on a field– head first (3) he was crushed by a passing chariot (4) he was stoned-to-death by the other 11 Apostles. But all four agree that “his bowels gushed out” (Ewwww!) on all four accounts. Authors and scholars also agree that his guilt was a major part of the cause of his death (suicide, death by hanging).


PETER

Recognized as the head of the original Christian community in Jerusalem (Israel), he left the city when King Herod Agrippa I started to persecute all Christians in Jerusalem and ordered the beheading of the Apostle James (the Great) . After escaping from Jerusalem, Peter preached in Judea (originally Palestine) and in Antioch (Syria) where he is historically considered as the first patriarch (bishop) of the Orthodox Church. After staying in Antioch for some time, Peter went to Rome and converted thousands into Christianity. The emperor at the time, Nero, did not like the idea of Romans becoming Christians and used the new members of the group for his amusement (e.g. feeding them to lions or wild dogs, and then burning them at stake in Rome’s coliseum—yes, the tourist spot– if they do not renounce their faith). Peter was one of the most prominent victims of this persecution. He was captured and crucified upside-down at his own request, because he said he was not worthy to be crucified the same way as our Lord. St. Peter’s body lies below the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican City, in Rome (crucified upside down)


JOHN

For most of his labours, John was with Peter in Jerusalem up until the persecution of Herod Agrippa I. During this period, scholars agree that Johh escaped and preached for sometime in Asia Minor (an area around Turkey). Years later, scholars have traced that he went to Rome where it was believed he was persecuted with other Christians and was thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil—he miraculously survived. The Roman emperor at the time, Dominitian, decided after the incident to banish John to the island of Patmos (in Greece). When Dominitian died, John went back to Ephesus (in Turkey) where he spent the rest of his days. He died a very old man, the only Apostle to do so (thrown into boiling oil, but survived). There are many who believe or advocate that the image of St. John depicted in Da Vinci's Last Supper is really of Mary Magdalene, one of the closest followers of Jesus and the only person to have witnessed both the crucifixion and the resurrection.[4]



THOMAS

Called by most Christians as the “Doubting Thomas” for disbelieving the Lord’s Resurrection. But after his doubts were erased by touching Jesus’ wounds, he became a fearless preacher of the Gospel and builder of churches. He was the only Apostle who witnessed the Assumption of Mary and the one of the first Apostles who preached outside the boundaries of the vast Roman Empire (out of Europe). He preached in Babylon (present day Iraq) and established its first Christian church. Then he went to Persia (Iran) and travelled as far as China and India. He was martyred in Mylapore, India when a local king named Masdai condemned Thomas to death. The Apostle angered the Brahmins (high ranked priests/scholars who served as the king’s advisers) who thought Christianity disrespected India’s Caste System. Thomas was brought to a nearby mountain and was stabbed-to-death with a spear. He is believed to be buried around the suburb of Madras, in India (impaled by a spear).


JAMES THE GREAT

Brother of the Apostle John. He decided to preached the Gospel in Iberia (around Spain) and be the first to build a Christian foundation in the area. But according to some scholars, the Virgin Mary appeared to James and told him to return to Judea (around Israel) to help the other Apostles. He was captured and condemned to die by Herod the Agrippa 1 to please Jewish leaders who were furious at the rapid growth of the Church. James’ chief accuser was later convinced that the Apostle was indeed blessed by the Lord, he himself requested to be beheaded with James. After this, James’ body was brought back to Spain by his disciples and was buried in the area where the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is located, which is now considered as a major religious site (beheaded).


PHILLIP

Preached in Greece, Syria and in Turkey (in the cities of Galatia, Phrygia and Hierapolis). Philip partnered with Bartholomew in his missions. Like all Apostles, Philip became an exceptional speaker. According to sources “Through his miraculous healing and preaching, Philip converted the wife of the Preconsul of the city” of Hierapolis. Of course, this event angered the Preconsul and ordered that both Philip and Bartholomew be tortured and crucified upside down. While on the cross, Philip continued to preach and he was able to convince the crowd and the Preconsul to release Bartholomew, while insisting that he (Philip) remained crucified. Bartholomew was released but Philip died on the cross and was later buried somewhere within the city (crucified).


MATTHEW

Was a rich tax collector and the most educated among the Apostles. Christian tradition says he preached in Ethiopia (in Africa), Judea (Israel today), Macedonia, Syria and Parthia (northeast Iran). Bible scholars have different versions on how he died. Some say he was either killed with a sword in Parthia or he died a natural death in Ethiopia. The most interesting and dramatic story appeared here, where it says Matthew came to a city (unnamed) and was able to convert the family of the local king to Christianity. This angered the king and ordered his soldiers to capture Matthew. In front of a huge crowd, they nailed him unto a bed, covered his whole body with paper, oil, brimstone, asphalt and brushwood and then they set him ablaze. Matthew was able to endure the torture while praising and preaching, but eventually died “a happy death”. Everyone who touched the burnt bed after was miraculously healed and converted into Christianity, including the king who asked for forgiveness and became a staunch Christian believer (burned-to-death?).


JUDE THADDEUS

The Patron Saint of Desperate Cases and Lost Causes was a farmer before becoming an Apostle. He was a partner of Simon the Zealot and together they preached and converted non-believers in Judea (Israel), Persia (Iran), Samaria (Israel), Idumaea (near Jordan), Syria, Mesopotamia (Iran) and Libya. It is also widely believed that Jude travelled and preached in Beirut, Lebanon. He also helped Bartholomew in bringing Christianity to Armenia. The cause of his death in unclear because of the existence of two versions: (1) He was crucified in Edessa, Turkey; (2) He was clubbed-to-death and his body was either sawed or axed in pieces after (together with Simon the Zealot). Some sources say he was buried either in Northern Persia or the most accepted version that his remains are buried in a crypt at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome (sawed or axed to death?).


SIMON THE ZEALOT

Before becoming an apostle, Simon was a member of the “Zealots”, a political movement rebelling against the Roman occupation of Jerusalem. Identified by some as the second Bishop of Jerusalem after James the Lesser (who was beheaded). He’s also believed to have preached in the Middle East, North Africa, Egypt, Mauritania and even Britain. His martyrdom is being debated by scholars and historians who claim Simon might have been crucified by the Romans in Lincolnshire, Britain, crucified in Samaria (Israel) after a failed revolt or sawed-to-death in Suanir, Persia with Jude Thaddeus (sawed or axed-to-death?).

Please be sure to see Footnote [4]. For Andy Warhol's take on Da Vinci's Last Supper click the image below:


TWENTY PARTIALS OF WARHOL'S 60 DA VINCI LAST SUPPERS

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THE ARTIST IN ME
OUTER SPACE TO THE RENAISSANCE UFOs

JOHNNY ROSELLI: MAFIOSO


THE COWBOY CODE OF THE WEST


ANDY WARHOL AND THE LAST SUPPER




HEMIS MANUSCRIPTS


JESUS IN INDIA: PROS AND CONS


BUDDHISM IN AMERICA BEFORE COLUMBUS


MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN AND CARLOS CASTANEDA


SO, DID THE WANDERLING FLY?

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GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE: INTERACTIVE

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DA VINCI 500 YEARS TOO SOON

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CLICK
HERE FOR
ENLIGHTENMENT

ON THE RAZOR'S
EDGE


E-MAIL
THE WANDERLING

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LEONARDO
DA--VINCI

RING SITE

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Apostle mini-biographies with thanks to Scanned Thoughts. See also:

WHO WERE THE TWELVE APOSTLES: A COMPLETE GUIDE



As to the subject of donations, for those of you who may be interested in doing so as it applies to the gratefulness of my works, I invariably suggest any funds be directed toward THE WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT and/or THE AMERICAN RED CROSS.
















FOOTNOTE [1]


---OBATALA--PAPA-LEGBA--CHANGO--- OSHUN------JUST JUDGE

-----OGOUN--------OYA-----------YEMAYA

THE SEVEN AFRICAN POWERS

CENTRAL FIGURE: Just Judge, crucifixion of Jesus. Watched over by a rooster on a pedestal. Inside the circle the word "Olofi" sometimes appears. The rooster is thought to signify betrayal as in Mark 14:30: And Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, That this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you shall deny me three times."


SEVEN AFRICAN POWERS


OBEAH: AFRO-CARIBBEAN SHAMANISM


THE WORD OBEAH: WHAT DOES IT MEAN, HOW DOES IT WORK?

















FOOTNOTE [2]


The top photo below shows how the great cloister of the Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery looked prior to World War II. The photo directly below the top photo shows the results of what the refectory looked like following the Allied bombing of Milan on August 15, 1943. In the end three walls were spared including the nearly wholly complete standing back wall with the Da Vinci Last Supper securely in place and covered with heavy wooden planks and supporting superstructure. The bottom photo shows pretty much how the refectory interior and the restored Da Vinci Last Supper looks today. For close up of that same Last Supper please click the Last Supper image in the center lower half of the bottom photo. To see an expansion of that re-click the image that comes up.


milan
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THE DAY DA VINCI'S LAST SUPPER WAS ALMOST LOST FOREVER

















FOOTNOTE [3]



It is highly believed in some circles that the person depicted in Leonardo Da Vinci's painting The Last Supper, as shown above, as the apostle John, is not John at all but Mary Magdalene. If such is taken as the case, it begs the double question then of where would John be if not at the supper and why would Da Vinci chose to eliminate John totally and replace him by Magdalene?

There is no officially recognized biblical record of Mary of Magdalene having been at the Last Supper, at least at the table. The problem is she had been everywhere else of biblical importance so the thought is that it is easy to draw a very positive line that she was, unless there was a concerted effort otherwise. Other artists of the Renaissance facing a similar dilemma have come up with a variety of answers, ignoring or eliminating her all together or coming up with a work around

Fra Angelico, a great artist of the early Renaissance, painted the Last Supper in the Dominican monastery of St. Mark in Florence well before Da Vinci created his and depicts a female in it thought to be Mary Magdalene without eliminating any of the other apostles. Please see Footnote [4].

The following quote about Mary Magdalene being or not being at the Last Supper is found in APPARITIONS, TRANSLOCATIONS, AND BILOCATIONS IN THEOLOGY, REALITY, AND FACT:


"Another problem with Mary Magdalene being said to having not attended the Last Supper is what the bible itself has to say, at least how ambiguous it becomes when you investigate it on a much broader scale. She was there alright, and the bible says it, but how or what it says and by whom and whom it is interpreted, then how that interpretation, if not left out or deleted, is emphasized relative it's selected importance. Mary Magdalene became stamped so early on in biblical history it is impossible to erase her completely. Deleting her, deflating her importance, or relegating her to the backwash is another thing, which for the most part is what has tried to be done. The bible, whether anybody likes it or not, although not verse specific, by wringing out readily available facts already presented in all accepted translated versions, can and does, by more than just inference, prove big time Mary Magdalen was there. All you have to do is read it."
















FOOTNOTE [4]



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Fra Angelico (1395-1455) created the above painting of the Last Supper during the Early Renaissance, more specifically by him, in the years 1440-1441 at age 45. As a friar of the order, he painted it in what was at the time for him the working refectory of the Dominican monastery of St. Mark in Florence, Italy, albeit now a museum of fine arts. In the painting eight of the Apostles are shown seated at the table with four shown kneeling. One of the four kneeling has a black halo indicating Judas. In front of the table are four stools apparently for the four kneeling Apostles to take a seat at the table. Three of the four stools have the third leg in the back, one of the stools has the third leg in the front.

To the left is a kneeling female figure identified as Mary Magdalene. There is no stool for her, but if you notice the four Apostles on the left along the wall seem to be sitting on a bench rather than stools. There is space that has clearly been left open on the bench to the right of the first of the seated Apostles for Mary to sit if she hadn't already and simply, like the other four kneeled Apostles, having got up from their seating positions to kneel.
















DA VINCI'S LAST SUPPER AND ANDY WARHOL


Andy Warhol died February 22, 1987 at age 58. His last major artistic endeavor was a series of works related to Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper of which Warhol created well over 100 versions both silkscreened and hand-painted, including one that was the largest painting he ever made.

On July 9, 1962, twenty-five years before his death I attended the opening of Warhol's first one man show ever, held in Los Angeles at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, although at the time Warhol was not well known nor had I really heard of him. However, by the time May of 1968 rolled around I was meeting him personally under invitation. That year a very accomplished women and close friend of Warhol (they actually shared Thanksgivings together), by the name of Mercedes De Acosta and I, by her request, were in the process of making arrangements to meet for a variety of reasons. However, on May 9, 1968, before we were able to finalize any arrangements, she died. Then a funny thing happened though. During our arrangements, knowing she was a close to Warhol, I asked if she could squeeze in an introduction.




Because of the death of De Acosta the meeting between she and I did not come off, and because of same, I figured that was the end of it. However, within days of her death, oddly enough out of nowhere, I received a request from Andy Warhol to meet anyway. The typically New York based Warhol just happened to be staying in La Jolla, California, not far down the coast from where was at the time. Warhol was filming a movie called San Diego Surf with a bunch his groupies, including not just a few of whom were seemingly experiencing the short and long term effects of west coast/Mexican mescaline for the first time during my stay --- of which, it must be said, neither I or Warhol participated in.

On June 3, 1968, within a few days of our meeting and his departure from California, Warhol was shot in the chest at close range after arriving at his New York studio. The bullet ripped through one of his lungs, tore up his esophagus, then passed through his gall bladder, liver, spleen, and intestines before exiting his left side, leaving a huge hole in its wake.(see) At the hospital Warhol was pronounced clinically dead. He remained dead for well over a minute pushing into two before the medical team was finally able to revive him. He was in the hospital for two weeks followed by a few more weeks at home.

Because initially De Acosta was our only mutual connection and she and her passing was on the forefront of almost every conversation, Warhol continued to bring up my Near Death Experience and what happens to a person after death. Interestingly enough, for Warhol, the topic of those conversations, were almost as if in premonition,

After Warhol's flatline and close to death experience followed by those few weeks at home to allow sufficient time for healing, at least for Warhol, physically anyway, than an unusual sized package, about three feet by three feet square and around three or four inches thick, arrived in care of me at the studio of an up and coming artist he knew in the Santa Monica/Venice area of California, Santa Monica being an upscale beach town somewhat west along the coast from Los Angeles. Inside that carefully wrapped package, in honor of De Acosta through Andy Warhol's studio in New York, was a three foot by three foot signed by Warhol artist's proof print of Marilyn Monroe, of which I still have.

The graphic below shows Andy Warhol's Sixty Last Suppers (1986), acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, height 9 feet 7 inches, length 32 feet 9 inches. The graphic at the top of this segment is another version of Da Vinci's Last Supper done by Warhol. It is synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas, height 6 feet 6 inches, length 25 feet 6 inches. Although recently said to be up for sale it is currently in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Either or both graphics can be increased in size visually by clicking then increased even further by clicking the image that comes up a second time.


MERCEDES DE ACOSTA AND ANDY WARHOL




THREE BY THREE FOOT ARTIST'S PROOF WARHOL GAVE ME


















FOR A LARGER SIZE OF THE ORIGINAL LAST SUPPER PAINTING, AFTER APOSTLE SERIES RUNS THROUGH, CLICK IMAGE THEN CLICK NEW IMAGE