Where is the Last Supper. The painting is not in a museum. The mystery of the fresco by Leonardo da Vinci "The Last Supper"

October 15 to Sunday December 3, 2017 for 8 Sundays see Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper" until 22.00.
The extended schedule of the museum will increase the number of applicants by 3,000 people. The museum will be open until 22.00 (last opening at 21.45):
October 15
22 of October
29th of October
November 5 (free admission in honor of the Una Domenica al Museo initiative)
November 12
November 19
November 26
December 3 (free entry in honor of the Una Domenica al Museo initiative)
Only a certain part of the tickets can be pre-booked by phone 02 92800360, the rest of the tickets will be sold at the museum box office from 14.00 on the day of the visit to the museum.

The Last Supper (Cenacolo Vinciano)

In the heart of Milan in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Santa Maria delle Grazie) stored greatest work world art Leonardo da Vinci The Last Supper (Cenacolo Vinciano) in Italian ) ... I would like to point out that this work not a picture, but fresco, which talented artist drew on the wall of the refectory of the monastery.

The fresco depicting the scene of the last meal of Christ with his disciples was commissioned by the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Maria Sforzo. The painting was started by Leonardo in 1495 and completed in 1498; work went on intermittently.
The approximate dimensions of the fresco are 880 by 460 cm. It is noteworthy that the artist did not paint the work on wet plaster, but on dry plaster, in order to be able to edit it several times. The artist applied a thick layer of egg tempra to the wall, which caused the destruction of the fresco already 20 years after it was painted.

Fresco "The Last Supper":

This fresco depicts the most scary tale betrayal and the manifestation of the most selfless love... The main characters are a teacher and a student who betrayed him. Both know what is going to happen and both will not try to change anything.
The picture of the last meal of Jesus with the apostles was recreated by many painters, but no one, either before or after Leonardo da Vinci, could convey the drama of the New Testament narrative with such expressiveness. Unlike other artists, Leonardo did not begin to paint an icon, he was interested in non-church dogmas, and human feelings Savior and his disciples... Thanks to the techniques used by the master, observers seem to fall inside the fresco... No other painting on the theme of the Last Supper can compare with the uniqueness of the composition and the drawing of details Leonardo's masterpiece.

It is believed that the work depicts the moment when Jesus utters the words that one of the apostles will betray him (“and when they were eating, he said: Truly, I say to you that one of you will betray Me”), and the reaction of each of them.
As in other images of the Last Supper of that time, Leonardo arranges those sitting at the table on one side of it so that the viewer can see their faces... Most previous writings on the subject have excluded Judas by placing him alone on the opposite side of the table to that of the other eleven apostles and Jesus, or by depicting all the apostles except Judas with a halo. Judas clutching a small pouch in his hand, possibly denoting the silver he received for betraying Jesus, or being an allusion to his role among the twelve apostles as treasurer. He was the only one who put his elbow on the table. Knife in hand Petra, pointing away from Christ, may refer the viewer to the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane during the detention of Christ.

Jesus gesture can be interpreted in two ways. According to the Bible, Jesus predicts that his betrayer will stretch out his hand to eat at the same time as him. Judas reaches for the dish, not noticing that Jesus is also reaching for him right hand... At the same time, Jesus points to bread and wine, which symbolize the sinless body and shed blood, respectively.
The figure of Jesus is located and illuminated in such a way that the viewer's attention is drawn primarily to him. The head of Jesus is at the vanishing point for all perspective lines.

The painting contains repeated references to the number three:

The apostles sit in groups of three;
behind Jesus are three windows;
the contours of the figure of Christ resemble a triangle.
The light illuminating the whole scene does not come from the windows painted behind, but comes from the left, as in real light from the window on the left wall.
In many places the painting passes golden ratio; for example, where Jesus and John, who is on his right, put their hands, the canvas is divided in this ratio.

How to visit the Last Supper fresco by Leonardo da Vinci in Milan:

Viewing the fresco is carried out groups up to 30 people. Be sure to book your ticket in advance, and the reservation must be paid immediately. There are many sites that sell tickets at exorbitant prices, but it is more profitable and more reliable to buy on the official website of the Italian Ministry of Culture www.vivaticket.it.
Tickets can be purchased online, however, this is very difficult and almost impossible during the peak tourist season, so it is advisable to take care of buying tickets well in advance of the trip.
20 minutes before the session in the building to the left of the church, you need to exchange the booking slips for the tickets themselves. There is also the entrance to the Last Supper.

Ticket prices:

An adult ticket costs 10 euros + 2 euros booking fee.

Book by phone: +39 02 92800360
Ticket sales:
From 13 DECEMBER ticket sales for the month of March
From 12 JANUARY ticket sales for the month of April
FROM 8 FEBRUARY ticket sales for the month of May
From MARCH 8 ticket sales for the month of June

Opening hours of the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie:

8.15 -19.00, break from 12.00 to 15.00.
On holidays and holidays the church is open from 11.30 to 18.30. Day off: January 1, May 1, December 25.

How to get to Santa Maria delle Grazie:

by tram 18 towards Magenta, stop Santa Maria delle Grazie
Metro line M2, stop Conciliazione or Cadorna

The Last Supper (Italian: Il Cenacolo or L’Ultima Cena) is a fresco by Leonardo da Vinci depicting the scene of Christ’s last supper with his disciples. Created in the years 1495-1498 in the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.

General information

The size of the image is approximately 450 × 870 cm, it is located in the refectory of the monastery, on the back wall. The theme is traditional for this kind of premises. The opposite wall of the refectory is covered with a fresco by another master; Leonardo also put his hand to it.

Leonardo da Vinci. The Last Supper, 1495-1498. Ultima cena. 460×880 cm. Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
Photo clickable

The painting was commissioned by Leonardo by his patron, Duke Lodovico Sforza and his wife Beatrice d'Este. The coat of arms of Sforza is painted on the lunettes above the fresco, formed by a ceiling with three arches. Painting began in 1495 and completed in 1498; work went on intermittently. The date of commencement of work is not accurate, since "the archives of the monastery were destroyed, and the insignificant part of the documents that we have at our disposal date back to 1497, when the painting was almost completed."

Three early copies of the fresco are known to exist, presumably by Leonardo's assistant.

Painting became a milestone in the history of the Renaissance: correctly reproduced the depth of perspective changed the direction of development of painting in the West.

Technics

Leonardo painted The Last Supper on a dry wall, not on wet plaster, so the painting is not a fresco in the true sense of the word. A fresco cannot be changed while it is being painted, and Leonardo decided to cover the stone wall with a layer of resin, plaster and mastic, and then paint on this layer with tempera. Due to the chosen method, the painting began to collapse within a few years after the end of the work.
Figures depicted

The apostles are depicted in groups of three, located around the figure of Christ sitting in the center. Groups of apostles, from left to right:

Bartholomew, Jacob Alfeev and Andrey;
Judas Iscariot (dressed in green and blue), Peter and John;
Thomas, James Zebedee and Philip;
Matthew, Judas Thaddeus and Simon.

In the 19th century, they found notebooks Leonardo da Vinci with the names of the apostles; before that, only Judas, Peter, John, and Christ had been identified with certainty.

Painting analysis

It is believed that the fresco depicts the moment when Jesus utters the words that one of the apostles will betray him (“and when they were eating, he said: Truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me”, and the reaction of each of them.

As in other images of the last supper of that time, Leonardo places those seated at the table on one side of it so that the viewer can see their faces. Most previous writings on the subject have excluded Judas by placing him alone on the opposite side of the table to that of the other eleven apostles and Jesus, or by depicting all the apostles except Judas with a halo. Judas clutches a small pouch in his hand, possibly representing the silver he received for betraying Jesus, or being an allusion to his role among the twelve apostles as treasurer. He was the only one who put his elbow on the table. The knife in Peter's hand, pointing away from Christ, may refer the viewer to the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane during the detention of Christ.

The gesture of Jesus can be interpreted in two ways. According to the Bible, Jesus predicts that his betrayer will stretch out his hand to eat at the same time as him. Judas reaches for the dish, not noticing that Jesus also stretches out his right hand to him. At the same time, Jesus points to bread and wine, which symbolize the sinless body and shed blood, respectively.

The figure of Jesus is located and illuminated in such a way that the viewer's attention is drawn primarily to him. The head of Jesus is at the vanishing point for all perspective lines.

The painting contains repeated references to the number three:

the apostles sit in groups of three;
behind Jesus are three windows;
the contours of the figure of Christ resemble a triangle.

The light that illuminates the entire scene does not come from the windows painted on the back, but comes from the left, like the real light from the window on the left wall.

In many places of the picture there is a golden section, for example, where Jesus and John, who is on his right, put their hands, the canvas is divided in this ratio.

Damage and restorations

Already in 1517, the paint of the painting began to peel off due to moisture. In 1556, biographer Leonardo Vasari described the mural as badly damaged and so deteriorated that the figures were almost unrecognisable. In 1652, a doorway was made through the painting, later bricked up; it is still visible in the middle of the base of the mural. Early copies give reason to believe that Jesus' feet were in a position that symbolized the upcoming crucifixion. In 1668, a curtain was hung over the painting for protection; instead, it blocked the evaporation of moisture from the surface, and when the curtain was pulled back, it scratched the peeling paint.

The first restoration was undertaken in 1726 by Michelangelo Belotti, who filled in the missing spaces. oil paint and then varnished the fresco. This restoration did not last long, and another was undertaken in 1770 by Giuseppe Mazza. Mazza cleaned Belotti's work, and then thoroughly rewrote the painting: he rewrote all but three of the faces, and then had to stop work due to public outrage. In 1796, French troops used the refectory as an armory; they threw stones at the painting and climbed ladders to gouge out the eyes of the apostles. Then the refectory was used as a prison. In 1821, Stefano Barezzi, known for his ability to remove frescoes from walls with extreme care, was invited to transfer the painting to a more safe place; he severely damaged the center section before realizing that Leonardo's work was not a fresco. Barezzi attempted to reattach the damaged areas with glue. From 1901 to 1908, Luigi Cavenaghi was the first to conduct a thorough study of the structure of the painting, and then Cavenaghi began to clear it. In 1924, Oreste Silvestri carried out further clearing and stabilized some parts with plaster.

During World War II, on August 15, 1943, the refectory was bombed. Sandbags prevented bomb fragments from hitting the mural, but vibration could have had a detrimental effect.

In 1951-1954, Mauro Pellicioli carried out another restoration with clearing and stabilization.

Main restoration

In the 1970s, the fresco looked badly damaged. From 1978 to 1999, under the leadership of Pinin Brambilla Barsilon, a massive restoration project was carried out, the purpose of which was to permanently stabilize the painting and get rid of the damage caused by dirt, pollution and improper restorations of the 18th and 19th centuries. Since moving the mural to a calmer environment seemed impractical, the refectory itself was turned into such an environment, sealed, with a controlled climate regime, for which the windows had to be walled up. A detailed study was then carried out to determine the original form of the mural using infrared reflectoscopy and examination of core samples, as well as original cardboards from the Royal Library of Windsor Castle. Some areas were deemed beyond restoration. They were repainted in muted watercolors to show, without distracting the viewer's attention, that they are not an original work.

The restoration took 21 years. On May 28, 1999, the painting was opened for viewing. Visitors must book tickets in advance and can only spend 15 minutes there. When the fresco was inaugurated, heated debate arose over strong change colors, tones, and even facial ovals in several figures. James Beck, professor of art history at Columbia University and founder of ArtWatch International, was particularly stern in his assessment of the work.

Santa Maria delle Grazie

Plot

The Last Supper is the last meal of Jesus Christ with 12 disciples. That evening, Jesus established the sacrament of the Eucharist, which consisted in the consecration of bread and wine, preached about humility and love. The key event of the evening is the prediction of the betrayal of one of the students.

The closest associates of Jesus - those same apostles - are depicted in groups around Christ, sitting in the center. Bartholomew, Jacob Alfeev and Andrey; then Judas Iscariot, Peter and John; further Thomas, James Zebedee and Philip; and the last three are Matthew, Judas Thaddeus and Simon.

According to one version, on the right hand of Christ, the nearest is not John, but Mary Magdalene. If we follow this hypothesis, then her position indicates a marriage with Christ. This is supported by the fact that Mary Magdalene washed the feet of Christ and wiped them with her hair. Only a legal wife could do this.

Nikolai Ge "The Last Supper", 1863

It is not known exactly what moment of the evening Da Vinci wanted to depict. Probably the reaction of the apostles to the words of Jesus about the coming betrayal of one of the disciples. Christ's gesture serves as an argument: according to the prediction, the traitor will stretch out his hand to the food at the same time as god's son, and the only "candidate" is Judas.

The images of Jesus and Judas were given to Leonardo more difficult than others. The artist could not find suitable models in any way. As a result, he wrote off Christ from a singer in a church choir, and Judas from a drunken vagabond, who, by the way, was also a singer in the past. There is even a version that Jesus and Judas were written off from the same person in different periods his life.

Context

For the end of the 15th century, when the fresco was created, the reproduced depth of perspective was a revolution that changed the direction of development of Western painting. To be precise, The Last Supper is, rather, not a fresco, but a painting. The fact is that technically it is made on a dry wall, and not on wet plaster, as is the case with frescoes. This was done by Leonardo so that you can correct the images. The fresco technique does not give the author the right to make a mistake.

Da Vinci received an order from his regular client, Duke Lodovico Sforza. The wife of the latter, Beatrice d'Este, who patiently endured her husband's unbridled love of libertines, eventually died suddenly. "The Last Supper" was a kind of last will of the deceased.

Lodovico Sforza

Less than 20 years after the creation of the fresco, as due to humidity, Da Vinci's work began to crumble. After another 40 years, it was almost impossible to recognize the figures. Apparently, contemporaries were not particularly worried about the fate of the work. On the contrary, in every possible way, voluntarily or involuntarily, they only worsened his condition. So, in the middle of the XVII century, when the churchmen needed a passage in the wall, they made it in such a way that Jesus lost his legs. Later, the opening was bricked up, but the legs could not be returned.

The French king Francis I was so impressed with the work that he seriously thought about transporting it to his home. And during World War II, the fresco miraculously survived - a shell that hit the church building destroyed everything except the wall with the work of Da Vinci.

Santa Maria delle Grazie

"The Last Supper" has repeatedly tried to restore, however, not particularly successful. As a result, by the 1970s, it became obvious that it was time to act decisively, otherwise the masterpiece would be lost. For 21 years has been carried out colossal work... Today, visitors to the refectory have only 15 minutes to contemplate the masterpiece, and tickets, of course, must be bought ahead of time.

One of the geniuses of the Renaissance, a universal man, was born near Florence, a place where at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries cultural, political and economic life was extremely rich. Thanks to the families of patrons (such as the Sforza and the Medici), who generously paid for art, Leonardo could create freely.

Da Vinci statue in Florence

Da Vinci wasn't high an educated person... But his notebooks allow us to speak of him as a genius, whose range of interests was extremely wide. Painting, sculpture, architecture, engineering, anatomy, philosophy. And so on and so forth. And the most important thing here is not the number of hobbies, but the degree of involvement in them. Da Vinci was an innovator. His progressive thought turned the views of his contemporaries upside down and set a new vector for the development of culture.

On the eve of the suffering and death on the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ served His last meal with His disciples - the Last Supper. In Jerusalem, in the Upper Room of Zion, the Savior and the Apostles celebrated the Old Testament Jewish Passover, established in memory of the miraculous deliverance of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. After eating the Old Testament Jewish Passover, the Savior took bread and, having thanked God the Father for all His mercy to the human race, broke it and gave it to the disciples, saying: “This is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Then He took a cup of grape wine, also blessed it and gave it to them, saying: “Drink from it all; For this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Having communed the apostles, the Lord gave them the commandment to always perform this Sacrament: “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Since then Christian church for each Divine Liturgy performs the Sacrament of the Eucharist - the greatest sacrament of the union of believers with Christ.

Word on the Gospel Reading on Maundy Thursday ( 15.04.93 )

The Supper of Christ is a secret. Firstly, because the disciples gather around the Teacher, hated by the world, hated by the Prince of this world, who is in the ring of malice and mortal danger, which shows the generosity of Christ and requires fidelity from the disciples. This is a requirement violated by a terrible betrayal on the part of Judas and imperfectly fulfilled by other disciples who fall into slumber from despondency, from despondent forebodings when they should be awake with Christ while praying for the Chalice. Peter, dumbfounded by fear, with oaths, renounces his Teacher. All students run away.

Eucharist. Sofia Kievskaya

But the line between fidelity, however imperfect, and completeness remains. This is a terrible line: an irreconcilable clash between His generosity and holiness, between the Kingdom of God, which He proclaims and brings to people, and the kingdom of the Prince of this world. This is so irreconcilable that, as we approach the mystery of Christ, we are faced with the last choice. After all, we come closer to Christ in a way that believers of other religions cannot even imagine. They cannot imagine that it is possible to get as close to God as we do when we eat Christ's flesh and drink His blood. It's hard to think, but what to pronounce! What was it like for the apostles to hear for the first time the words by which the Lord established the truth! And woe to us if we do not experience at least a small part of that trembling which then should have seized the apostles.

The Last Supper is a mystery both because it must be hidden from the hostile world, and because in its essence there is an impenetrable mystery of the last condescension of the God-Man to people: the King of kings and the Lord of lords washes the feet of the disciples with His hands and thus shows His humility to all of us . What can surpass this? Only one: to give Himself to death. And the Lord does it.

We - weak people... And when our hearts are dying, we want well-being. But as long as we have a living heart, sinful, but alive, what does the living heart yearn for? About the fact that there was an object of love, endlessly worthy of love so that you can find such an object of love and serve it without sparing yourself.

All the dreams of people are unreasonable, because they are dreams. But they are alive as long as the living heart strives not for well-being, but for sacrificial love so that we may be gladdened by unspeakable generosity towards us, and that we may respond to this with some share of generosity and faithfully serve the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who is so generous to His servants.

Our Lord in the person of the apostles called us his friends. It is more terrible to think about it than to think that we are God's servants. A slave can hide his eyes in a bow; a friend cannot avoid meeting his friend's gaze - reproachful, forgiving, seeing the heart. The mystery of Christianity, in contrast to the imaginary mysteries with which false teachings seduce people, is like the depth of the most transparent water, impenetrable to the eye, which, however, is so great that we cannot see the bottom; yes and no it - the bottom.

What can be said tonight? Only one thing: that the Holy Gifts that will be brought out and given to us are the same body and blood of Christ that the apostles ate in an unimaginable shock of the heart. And this meeting of ours is that last Last Supper. Let us pray that we do not betray God's mystery - the mystery that unites us with Christ, that we experience this warmth of the mystery, that we do not betray it, that we respond to it with even the most imperfect fidelity.

The Last Supper in icons and paintings

Simon Ushakov The Last Supper icon 1685 The icon was placed above the Royal Doors in the iconostasis of the Dormition Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery

Dirk Bouts
sacrament of communion
1464-1467
Altar of Saint Peter's Church in Louvain

Washing the feet (John 13:1-20). Miniature from the Gospel and the Apostle, XI century. Parchment.
Monastery of Dionisias, Athos (Greece).

Washing the feet; Byzantium; X century; location: Egypt. Sinai, monastery of St. Catherine; 25.9 x 25.6 cm; material: wood, gold (leaf), natural pigments; technique: gilding, egg tempera

Foot washing. Byzantium, 11th century Location: Greece, Phokis, Osios Loukas Monastery

Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld The Last Supper Engraving 1851-1860 From the illustrations for the Picture Bible

Foot washing. Statue in front of Dallas Baptist University.

The name itself famous work Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper sacred meaning... Indeed, many of Leonardo's paintings are covered with an aura of mystery. In The Last Supper, as in many other works of the artist, there is a lot of symbolism and hidden messages.

Recently, the restoration of the legendary creation was completed. Thanks to this, we learned a lot interesting facts associated with the history of the painting. Its meaning is still not entirely clear. More and more conjectures are being born about the hidden message of The Last Supper.

Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most mysterious personalities in the history of fine arts. Some practically classify the artist as a saint and write laudatory odes to him, while others, on the contrary, consider him a blasphemer who sold his soul to the devil. But at the same time, no one doubts the genius of the great Italian.

History of the painting

It is hard to believe, but the monumental painting "The Last Supper" was made in 1495 by order of the Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza. Despite the fact that the ruler was famous for his dissolute disposition, he had a very modest and pious wife, Beatrice, whom, it is worth noting, he respected and revered very much.

But, unfortunately, the true strength of his love manifested itself only when his wife died suddenly. The duke's grief was so great that he did not leave his own chambers for 15 days, and when he left, the first thing he ordered was Leonardo da Vinci's fresco, which his late wife had once asked for, and forever put an end to his rampant lifestyle.

Own unique creation the artist completed in 1498. The dimensions of the painting were 880 by 460 centimeters. Best of all, the Last Supper can be seen if you move 9 meters to the side and rise 3.5 meters up. Creating a picture, Leonardo used egg tempera, which subsequently played with a fresco bad joke... The canvas began to collapse in just 20 years after creation.

The famous fresco is located on one of the walls of the refectory in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. According to art historians, the artist specifically depicted in the picture exactly the same table and dishes that were used at that time in the church. With this simple technique, he tried to show that Jesus and Judas (Good and Evil) are much closer than we think.

Interesting Facts

1. The identity of the apostles depicted on the canvas has repeatedly become the subject of controversy. Judging by the inscriptions on the reproduction of the painting, stored in Lugano, these are (from left to right) Bartholomew, Jacob Jr., Andrew, Judas, Peter, John, Thomas, James the Elder, Philip, Matthew, Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot.

2. Many historians believe that the Eucharist (communion) is depicted on the mural, since Jesus Christ points with both hands to the table with wine and bread. True, there is an alternative version. It will be discussed below...

3. Many more school course know the story that the images of Jesus and Judas were the most difficult for Da Vinci to come up with. Initially, the artist planned to make them the embodiment of good and evil and for a long time could not find people who would serve as models for creating his masterpiece.

Once an Italian, during a service in a church, saw a young man in the choir, so inspired and pure that there was no doubt: here it is - the incarnation of Jesus for his "Last Supper".

The last character, the prototype of which the artist still could not find, was Judas. Da Vinci wandered the narrow Italian streets for hours in search of suitable model... And now, after 3 years, the artist found what he was looking for. There was a drunkard lying in the ditch, who had long been on the edge of society. The artist ordered the drunkard to be brought to his studio. The man practically did not stay on his feet and had little idea where he was at all.

After the image of Judas was completed, the drunkard approached the painting and confessed that he had seen it somewhere before. To the bewilderment of the author, the man replied that three years ago he was a completely different person - he sang in the church choir and led a righteous life. It was then that an artist approached him with an offer to paint Christ from him.

So, according to historians, the same person posed for the images of Jesus and Judas at different periods of his life. This fact serves as a metaphor, showing that good and evil go hand in hand and there is a very thin line between them.

4. The most controversial is the opinion that sitting at the right hand of Jesus Christ is not a man at all, but none other than Mary Magdalene. Her location indicates that she was the lawful wife of Jesus. From the silhouettes of Mary Magdalene and Jesus, the letter M is formed. Allegedly, it means the word matrimonio, which translates as “marriage”.

5. According to some scientists, the unusual arrangement of the disciples on the canvas is not accidental. Say, Leonardo da Vinci placed people according to the signs of the zodiac. According to this legend, Jesus was a Capricorn and his beloved Mary Magdalene was a Virgin.

6. It is impossible not to mention the fact that during the Second World War, as a result of a shell hitting the church building, almost everything was destroyed, except for the wall on which the fresco is depicted.

And before that, in 1566, local monks made a door in the wall depicting the Last Supper, which “cut off” the legs of the fresco characters. A little later, a Milan coat of arms was hung over the head of the Savior. And at the end of the 17th century, a stable was made from the refectory.

7. No less interesting are the reflections of people of art on the food depicted on the table. For example, near Judas, Leonardo painted an overturned salt shaker (which at all times was considered a bad omen), as well as an empty plate.

8. There is an assumption that the apostle Thaddeus, sitting with his back to Christ, is actually a self-portrait of da Vinci himself. And, given the nature of the artist and his atheistic views, this hypothesis is more than likely.

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