Da Vinci's Last Supper
fish
fish
Karyn Carlo <Karyn...@msn.com> wrote in message
news:2NU6ViQ7$GA....@tweedledum.annex.com...
What a great story, Jenn.
--
Karyn
Jenn <Proph...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ULemgeQ7$GA....@tweedledum.annex.com...
From my mail box today,,,, Jenn
The story of the painting, The Last Supper, is extremely interesting and
instructive. The two incidents connected with it afford a most
convincing lesson
on the effects of right thinking or wrong thinking in the life of a
boy or girl, or
of a man or a woman.
The Last Supper was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, a noted Italian
artist; and
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 Vinci
worked on the production of this leading character of his famous
painting.
During the next six years, Da Vinci continued his abors 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 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 of
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 special permission from the king, this prisoner was carried to
Milan where
the picture was being painted; and 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 savior. 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, "O,
Da Vinci, look
at me! Do you not know who I am?"
Da Vinci, with the 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 painting 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.
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and wonder why the
world's
getting worse and worse.
Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the
Bible
says.
Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have
to
believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.
Funny how someone can say "I believe in God" but still follow Satan
(who also
"believes" in God).
Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they
spread
like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the
Lord, people
think twice about sharing.
Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through
cyberspace, but the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the
school and
workplace.
fish
Can you give me a link to the Urban Legends page?
fish
Karen Nathan <kna...@home.com> wrote in message
news:dfsYrAR7$GA....@tweedledum.annex.com...
Jenn,
This makes a great story, but it's not true. Here's what the Urban Legends
page has to say:
"We feel a little silly having to debunk this one as if it were supposed to
be taken literally, so we'll be brief. We know so little about the
circumstances surrounding da Vinci's creation of "The Last Supper" that an
account offering this much detail is immediately suspect. Certainly da Vinci
didn't take twenty-five years, or even ten years, to complete his work, as
claimed in these accounts. Documentary evidence indicates he began "The Last
Supper" in 1495 and was finished with it by 1498. (At the outside, Da Vinci
would had to have completed his work by the end of 1499, when he fled Milan
ahead of the invading French; he didn't return to the city until 1506.)
Other details presented here are woefully wrong as well: We have no records
of whom Leonardo used as models for the figures in "The Last Supper," but he
was painting on a wall, undoubtedly from sketches, so in no case would he
have had models sitting in a "studio" for "days" while he "painted on
canvas."
This tale is simply a Christian religious allegory warning of the inner
spiritual decay (as exemplified by an outer physical decay) that awaits
those who spurn Jesus Christ. As with many other examples of glurge, the
writer has housed his message within a historical framework to lend it
additional impact, thereby achieving exactly the opposite of what he
intended: readers now focus on the literal truth of the allegory's details
rather than its message."
--Karen
Karen Nathan
There are a number of Urban Legends pages, but here's the one
I like best, as it's easily searchable: www.snopes.com It's amazing
how many of the mass e-mails which people send around are at least
partly untrue.
--Karen
fish
Neat page.
fish
Karen Nathan <kna...@home.com> wrote in message
news:CyoMoFT7$GA....@tweedledum.annex.com...