The Complete Da Vinci Code of 'The Last Supper'

The Complete Leonardo Da Vinci Code of the Last Supper painting
including things that Dan Brown missed

Leonardo was a great painter, sculptor, scientist, inventor, physician, etc. He is generally considered one of the greatest human minds in history if not thee greatest!

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(1) Is it John(47)* or Mary(57) Magdalen(57) sitting next to Jesus' right? Did Jesus(74) marry Mary? This is the only disciple to have a purple robe on. If only there was a clue, did the Messiah(74) marry Mary? Marry Mary!! Leonardo referred to English(74) as the "lingua pura" or "pure language". Why? Because he recognized the gematria(74) of English(74) and he stated (paraphrased), "English hadn't been corrupted by the Roman Catholic Church". 'Magdalean' is the correct spelling for what was 'Mariamne'(74) in Greek. Mariamne is what was found on her ossuary in the Jesus Family Tomb. Only immediate family members were included in that tomb or any tomb like it. MM provides 'the key'(74) to understanding many point(74)s.** The connect(74) between(74) John & Mary is very important, indeed. There has been a legend in the south of France for over 1,900 years that not only did the Magdalean ('Black Madonna') land on the shores of southern France with a young girl in a small boat some years after Jesus was on the Cross(74), but that Mary had been married first to John the Baptist and had had his son: John. After the Baptist was beheaded, it was Jewish(74) tradition at the time for the next of kin to marry the widow - Jesus was John's 1st cousin. The scripture story of when during the crucifixion, Y'shua(74) tells John his disciple to take care of Mary his mother has a whole other possibility!

(2) Peter is making a menacing gesture with his left hand below Mary's neck while he has a knife behind his back in his right hand. Peter represents the Vatican and Roman Catholic Church government.

(3) James (Yakov[74]) the brother of Jesus sits immediately to Jesus' left with a very obvious gesture of his arms outspread blocking others from getting to Y'shua(74).

(4) Thomas is directly behind James' outstretch right arm with the index finger of his right hand point(74)ing up as if saying, "One". Why? Some 'experts' have said this is a reference to John the Baptist and his position of being 'number 1'(74) or the original Messiah(74). I don't think that is what Leonardo is primarily depicting, although there are historical examples of this in other works by the great master, i.e. Madonna of the Rocks. I think the Thomas gesture is a connect(74) to whom is directly next to him and standing behind James' outstretched left arm...

(5) Phillip stands behind Thomas' left, at least, that's always been the standard interpretation. But look closely at this disciple - like with John/Mary - there's no beard! Perhaps, Leonardo disguised another woman? Yes, and this is why both James has his arms outstretched and Thomas is signaling "Only one". Scripture clearly states that "IESVS(74 Latin) loved both Mary & Martha", but Hebrew law was very clear about only having one wife at a time. (Outside of Hebrew law, other cultures present in the Middle East permitted polygamy - some still do!) Were Mary & her sister Martha present at this Passover Seder? Most definitely! Who do you think prepared the food, the table, and cleaned up afterward?! Consider that there were 12 apostles plus Magdalean = 13. The name 'Martha'=61 + 13 = 74: the key(74), GOD=7_4.

(6) There is no wine or wine cups on the table. (Although I'm currently looking at a large reproduction that I bought cheap in a Catholic Church Gift Shop right at the height of 'Da Vinci Code mania' and it has wine glasses added. Kinda peculiar.)

(7) The hands of everyone represent musical notes on a staff

(8) Possibly, the position of the bread rolls also represent musical notes on a staff

(9) The letter names of the musical notes contain a message

(10) Leonardo depicted himself in the painting as Bartholomew (?) - stage left second from the end

(11) There is sacred geometry used in the proportions of the painting

(12) The position of the feet mean --- (I don't know, but I know that it means something!)

The following is an exerpt from Wikipedia The Last Supper [link to en.wikipedia.org]

Rumours and alternative theories
Some writers identify the person to Jesus' right not with the Apostle John (as is supposed by iconographical tradition and confirmed by art historians) but with Mary Magdalean. This theory was the topic of the book The Templar Revelation, and plays a central role in Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code (2003). They propose that the person in the painting seated, from a viewer’s point-of-view, to the left of Jesus is Mary Magdalaen rather than John the Apostle, as most art historians identify that person. By the same token the Apostle Philip (third figure to the right of Jesus, and the only other beardless male) could possibly be another woman (Martha?). Furthermore, they point out that the body angles between Jesus and the Apostle John form the letter M, a reference to the Magdalean, and that she and Jesus are dressed in similar but oppositely colored clothes, a negative image of each other. They also mention a number of other signs: a mystery knife pointed at one of the characters, that Leonardo da Vinci himself is in the painting with his face pointing away from Jesus, and that Jesus is confronted by an admonishing hand to his right making “the John gesture,” an index finger pointing up.


Castagno's version of The Last Supper, depicting St. John sleepingThe above points are often debated with the following counter-arguments:

Leonardo was requested to paint the Last Supper, which naturally included Jesus and his Twelve Apostles. As there are only thirteen figures in the painting, an apostle would have been missing to make way for Mary Magdalean. Somebody would have noted a missing male apostle earlier. Some have suggested that on the front of the figure of Simon Peter there is one hand with a dagger which is associated to nobody in the picture, but in clearer reproductions this is seen to be Peter's right hand, resting against his hip with the palm turned outward; the knife points towards Bartholomew (far left) who was to be executed by being flayed. It may also indicate Peter's impulsive nature, as he cuts off a soldier's ear in John 18:10. A detailed preliminary drawing of the arm exists.
The figure in question is presumably wearing male clothing, as he is wearing the same kind of garments as, for instance, Jesus.
Some of the painting's cartoons (preliminary sketches) are preserved, and none show female faces.[citation needed]
Other paintings from that period (Castagno's 1447 and Ghirlandaio's 1480) also show John to be a very boyish or feminine looking figure with long fair hair.[6] This was because John was the youngest and most unquestioningly devoted of the apostles. Hence he is often shown asleep against Jesus's shoulder. It was common in the period to show neophytes as very young or even feminine figures, as a way of showing their inferior position. Leonardo also portrayed a male saint with similar effeminate features in his painting St. John the Baptist.

There have also been other popular speculations about the work. It has been suggested that there is no cup in the painting, yet Jesus' left hand is pointing to the Eucharist and his right to a glass of wine. (There are several glasses on the table, but they are difficult to see owing to the work's deterioration and restorations.) This is not the glorified chalice of legend as Leonardo insisted on realistic paintings. He often criticised Michelangelo for painting muscular, superhuman figures in the Sistine Chapel. Further it is claimed that if one looks above the figure of Bartholomew, a Grail-like image appears on the wall. Whether Leonardo meant this to be a representation of the Holy Grail cannot be known, since as pointed out earlier there is a glass on the table within Christ's reach. The "Grail image" has become noticed probably because it only appears when viewing the painting in small scale reproductions. Zooming in on the painting reveals a cluster of geometrical shapes, possibly intended to represent marble wall decoration, or more likely, paneling on a door.[7] They only appear to form a golden chalice when parts are deliberately occluded.


Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper superimposed with its mirror imageSlavisa Pesci, "an information technologist and amateur scholar", superimposed Leonardo da Vinci's version of The Last Supper with its mirror image (with both images of Jesus lined up) and claimed[8][9] that the resultant picture has a Templar knight on the far left, a woman in orange holding a swaddled baby in her arms to the left of Christ, and the Holy Grail in the form of a chalice in front of Christ.

Giovanni Maria Pala, an Italian musician, has indicated that the positions of hands and loaves of bread can be interpreted as notes on a musical staff, and if read from right to left, as was characteristic of Da Vinci's writing, form a musical composition.


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*exposed gematria(74) A=1...Z=26
**My cat 'Black Madonna' - usually an outdoor cat, insisted on coming in my bedroom after I wrote that. Very 'coincidental'.

-Brad Watson, Miami, FL

Last Edited by Brad Watson, Miami, FL on 03/16/2010 06:58 PM