Dali's "THE LAST SUPPER"
dyk...@bvc.edu
of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. The work was done, I
believe in 1955 and is oil on canvas 65"x 105". I'm presently not aware of
much controversy which ensued over the work's exhibition or aquistition by
the Nat. Gallery. I will say though, that I can understand why many
viewers might feel that the work is sacriligious when they see the
reference to Leonardo's work of @1495. The Leonardo LAST SUPPER has become
one of the icons of art by which all the other LAST SUPPERS are measured,
and as we all know people often have difficulty coming to grips with new
interpretations of ancient themes.
Leonardo's painting is the obvious prototype for the Dali work. Dali was a
notorious appropriator of imagery and ideas from a variety of sources, art
history included. The suggested interior space is organized symetrically,
like Leonardo's with the head of Christ at the central vanishing point.
Unlike Leonardo's work Dali shows the diciples heads bowed in prayer as
Christ pronounces his relationship to the triune God, shown here as a nude
torso with sheltering arms spread. An interesting variation of the device
of placement of the diciples in the Dali work shows two of them on the near
side of the table. Actually Leonardo was the inventor here as he shows all
of them on the same side of the table with Christ. Usually artists showed
Judas, (the betrayer), on the opposite side. Why Dali would have two
diciples on the near side is a mystery to me except for the sake of
symetry. The only possibility that I can think of might be that one of
them is Judas and the other Thomas, (who later doubted the resurrection),
or Peter who later denied his relationship to Christ. I tend to go with
the need for symetry.
The background scene in Dali's work shows a lake with a mountainous
shoreline. It is a familiar device in his work from THE PERSISTENCE OF
MEMORY onward. In this painting though, it is a reference to the Sea of
Gallilee, where Christ first met some of his diciples. The boats are a
reference to their background as fishermen and also a reference to Christ's
challenge to them to become fishers of men. The single glass of wine and
two small loaves of bread are obvious references to the sacrament of
communion and the eucharist.
As I mentioned, I'm unaware of much controversy over the Dali painting but
I can certainly understand, given the huge numbers of people who tour the
National Gallery why some of them might be shocked by the work. When you
couple the iconoclastic reputation which Dali intentionally nourished in
both his art and his lifestyle with a painting which transforms the
familiar Leonardo da Vinci LAST SUPPER into a surreal and dream like scene
there will certainly be some people among the thousands who will be
offended.
Dennis L. Dykema