L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 10 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE T h e L a s t S u p p e r b y L e o n a r d o d a V i n c i i s undoubtedly one of the most iconic, most famous works of art of all times. As such, it has always attracted crowds to the R e f e c t o r y o f t h e D o m i n i c a n c h u r c h o f S a n t a M a r i a d e l l e G r a z i e i n M i l a n w h e r e i t i s located. It is also regarded as a miraculous painting: it survived Leonardo's own experimenta- tions with a new faulty fresco technique, and subsequently sur- vived rudimentary restorations throughout the centuries; then, during WWII, in August 1943, w h e n a l l i e d b o m b i n g s r a z e d Milan and destroyed the church, this mural amazingly survived intact on the only wall left stand- ing in the refectory. Ever since author Don Brown published his famous, or, for others, infamous book The Da Vinci Code, the crowds of peo- ple visiting this painting have exponentially increased. Tourists are now here not only to admire Leonardo's art, but also to dis- cuss, comment and guess who the figures represented in the p a i n t i n g a r e . I s t h e r e , o r i s there not, a woman at the right of Jesus? As a Milanese, I have seen this painting so many times that I can almost see it with my eyes closed. But this time I am going to specifically focus on the hot controversy revolving around one figure, the one to the right of Jesus, the figure "in question." In fact, many of the tourists who show up at the refectory have read Don Brown's book, and are here to look in person and give a verdict. It seems strange that Brown's ingenious book has been taken seriously even in Catholic Italy, especially since the author himself stated that it is a novel, actually, a murder m y s t e r y , o f t h e k i n d A g a t h a C h r i s t i e w r o t e . T h e s i t e s described in Don Brown's book have been the objects of fan pil- grimages, from the church of Saint Sulpice in Paris, to Roslyn in the United Kingdom. In Italy, the pilgrimage of curious tourists has focused on Leonardo's Last Supper. This work of art was frequently and religiously visited by tourists even before Brown's book came out. But now the crowds are enormous, the queues extremely long, and the eyes of the curious visitors seem to laser o n t h e f i g u r e a t t h e r i g h t o f Jesus. Such are the crowds that one must book a visit way in advance, a visit that can only last 15 minutes at a time, unless you book a tour. The last supper of Jesus and his apostles has been for cen- turies a cherished subject of p a i n t e r s . I n h i s p a i n t i n g , L e o n a r d o c h o s e t h e m o s t poignant moment of the event: t h e m o m e n t w h e n J e s u s announces to the apostles that one among them would betray him. With his sublime brush, Leonardo describes the reaction of each one of them. Here I am again, this time trying to see what Don Brown sees. Is the figure at the right s i d e o f J e s u s a m a n o r a woman? And if a woman, is this woman the one from the town of M a g d a l a , M a r y M a g d a l e n e ? People in the crowd comment, d i s c u s s , a r g u e . C e r t a i n l y Leonardo was creative in the positioning of the partakers of the Last Supper, although he was faithful to the traditional i c o n o g r a p h y t h a t f e a t u r e d twelve men sitting at a table around Jesus. Leonardo posi- tions six apostles on one side of Jesus and six on the other side, all in different groups of three men per group. But Brown sees twelve men, including Jesus, a n d o n e w o m a n , M a r y Magdalene. Thus, at the right of Jesus, Brown sees a woman in what tradition had always identi- fied as the figure of young Saint John, the young man with deli- cate features and with flowing reddish hair. Brown goes even further, and sees the shape of the l e t t e r M i n t h e e m p t y s p a c e between Jesus and the figure at his right, standing, in his opin- ion, for the word Matrimony. Also, Brown sees in the painting a very jealous Peter leaning m e n a c i n g l y t o w a r d s M a r y Magdalene (that is, young Saint John), pushing a blade-like hand across her neck. In the composi- tion there is indeed a knife that appears to be held by a hand belonging to a disembodied fig- ure, a knife fit to cut meat or to kill. But it does not seem to me to be Peter's hand. Brown purports to believe that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, and had a daugh- ter, from whom the French royal dynasty of the Merovingians stemmed. One legend tells that a f t e r J e s u s ' d e a t h , M a r y Magdalene moved to the South of France. Further, Brown claims that the famous Holy Grail is not a cup, but actually Mary herself, and specifically her womb, the eternal feminine element, the calyx containing the seed of life. Brown sees the suppression of Mary Magdalene's pre-eminence in the life of Jesus as a church plot to eliminate that "uncom- fortable" female element. Brown states that Leonardo's fresco practically shouts that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were a married couple. Brown even points out that Jesus and Mary are clothed in inverse colors, Jesus in a red robe with blue cloak, Mary with a blue robe with a red coat: Yin and Yang. Brown also points out that the two figures appear to be joined at the hip. I cannot see the figure at the right of Jesus as a woman, not by a stretch of the imagination. I see the figure of a delicate, if feeble, adolescent, a young man with long streaming hair, as young Saint John, "the beloved disciple o f J e s u s , " a s h e h a s b e e n d e s c r i b e d i n t h e S c r i p t u r e s . Squint as I may, I do not see in his figure the "hint of a bosom" that Brown claims is there and that no one had noticed prior to t h e m o s t r e c e n t r e s t o r a t i o n . Right behind me, a young couple a r e v e h e m e n t l y a r g u i n g i n E n g l i s h ; f i n a l l y t h e w o m a n , exasperated, exclaims: "It's a man, stupid!" Mary Magdalene got a bad rap. Her misrepresentation as a prostitute originated in the sixth century, in a homily by Pope Gregory the Great. The Pope actually intended to praise her for being a reformed sinner. But in those days (as in these days) there were so many Mary. He got the wrong Mary. According to the apocryphal tradition and the legend, Mary Magdalene evangelized Provence, the south of France. She is celebrated on July 22, and is traditionally rep- resented as a beautiful woman with long flowing hair, holding a jar of precious unguent. She pro- tects women sinners, gardeners and hairdressers, and stands as a symbol for contemplative life. According to the gospels, Mary Magdalene was present at the crucifixion and the burial of Christ (gospels of Mathew, Mark and John). Mary was the first person to witness the resurrec- tion of Jesus. In fact, in Mathew a n d J o h n , a s w e l l a s i n t h e a p p e n d i x t o M a r k ' s g o s p e l , Mary Magdalene, not Peter, is the primary witness of the resur- rection. And in my opinion, she does not appear in Leonardo's Last Supper. A Visit to Leonardo's Last Supper LAURA STORTONI-HAGER The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci (Milan 1495-1496) is one of the world's most famous paintings

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