My cousin forwarded the following to me - she knows I'm agnostic yet she's constantly trying to change my beliefs by preaching and by saying how disappointed she is that I do not share her same views.. Anyway, here it is (it's long but it's an interesting read):
--------------------------------------
The story behind the painting of The Last Supper is
extremely interesting and instructive. Two incidents
connected with this painting afford a most convincing
lesson on the effect of thought in the life of a boy
or girl, or of a man or woman. The Last Supper was
painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, a noted Italian artist.
The time engaged for its completion was seven years.
The figures representing the twelve apostles and
Christ Himself were painted from living persons. The
live 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 unaffected by sin. Finally,
after weeks of laborious searching a young man,
nineteen years of age, was selected as the model for
the portrayal of Christ. For six months Da Vinci
worked on the production of this leading character of
the famous painting.
During the next six years Da Vinci continued his
labors on his 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 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 $16.95 in our
present day currency. For weeks Da Vinci searched for
a man with a hard callous face, with a countenance
marked by scars of avarice, deceit, 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 the requirements had been
found. He was 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 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. A face which
portrayed a character of viciousness and complete
ruin. At last the 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 fresco was
being painted.
For six months the prisoner 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 the Savior.
As he finished his last stroke, he turned to the
guards and said, "I have finished, you may take the
prisoner away." Suddenly the man broke loose from
their control and rushed up to Da Vinci, crying as he
did so; "Oh, Da Vinci, look at me! Do you not know who
I am?" Da Vinci, with the trained eye 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, "O 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 and wrong thinking of an individual.
He was a young man whose Character was so pure and
unspoiled by the sins of the world, that he
represented a countenance and innocence and beauty fit
to be used for the painting of the representation of
Christ. But during the next seven years, following a
life of sin and crime, he was changed into a perfect
picture of the most notorious character ever known in
the history of the world.
--------------------------------------
Well before I believe this "true story," I went to Encarta and found this article:
"From 1495 to 1497 Leonardo labored on his masterpiece, The Last Supper, a mural in the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. "
The article mentions nothing about the story above and it says da Vinci painted the painting in two years, and not the 7 seven years which the forward claims. Since I haven't done any deep and thorough research, I will try to refrain myself from definitely saying that the forward is BS.
Since my source is pretty reliable (as oppose to some email forwards), IMHO, I think the story above is full of fibs, to say the least. Assuming that it is fake, I'm getting tired of these lies desperate Christians are spreading around the internet (for example, there's the one story where NASA found a day missing and that's related to the Old Testament story about God stopping the heavens for a day...a Christian website later admitted that the circulating email was a hoax). Again, that's only assuming the Last Supper story is fake. So this is why I posted this story: can anyone confirm the story above is true? If no one can, I'm going to fire off a stern, but not condescending, to stop emailing me crap and to start respecting my beliefs.
--------------------------------------
The story behind the painting of The Last Supper is
extremely interesting and instructive. Two incidents
connected with this painting afford a most convincing
lesson on the effect of thought in the life of a boy
or girl, or of a man or woman. The Last Supper was
painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, a noted Italian artist.
The time engaged for its completion was seven years.
The figures representing the twelve apostles and
Christ Himself were painted from living persons. The
live 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 unaffected by sin. Finally,
after weeks of laborious searching a young man,
nineteen years of age, was selected as the model for
the portrayal of Christ. For six months Da Vinci
worked on the production of this leading character of
the famous painting.
During the next six years Da Vinci continued his
labors on his 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 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 $16.95 in our
present day currency. For weeks Da Vinci searched for
a man with a hard callous face, with a countenance
marked by scars of avarice, deceit, 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 the requirements had been
found. He was 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 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. A face which
portrayed a character of viciousness and complete
ruin. At last the 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 fresco was
being painted.
For six months the prisoner 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 the Savior.
As he finished his last stroke, he turned to the
guards and said, "I have finished, you may take the
prisoner away." Suddenly the man broke loose from
their control and rushed up to Da Vinci, crying as he
did so; "Oh, Da Vinci, look at me! Do you not know who
I am?" Da Vinci, with the trained eye 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, "O 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 and wrong thinking of an individual.
He was a young man whose Character was so pure and
unspoiled by the sins of the world, that he
represented a countenance and innocence and beauty fit
to be used for the painting of the representation of
Christ. But during the next seven years, following a
life of sin and crime, he was changed into a perfect
picture of the most notorious character ever known in
the history of the world.
--------------------------------------
Well before I believe this "true story," I went to Encarta and found this article:
"From 1495 to 1497 Leonardo labored on his masterpiece, The Last Supper, a mural in the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. "
The article mentions nothing about the story above and it says da Vinci painted the painting in two years, and not the 7 seven years which the forward claims. Since I haven't done any deep and thorough research, I will try to refrain myself from definitely saying that the forward is BS.
Since my source is pretty reliable (as oppose to some email forwards), IMHO, I think the story above is full of fibs, to say the least. Assuming that it is fake, I'm getting tired of these lies desperate Christians are spreading around the internet (for example, there's the one story where NASA found a day missing and that's related to the Old Testament story about God stopping the heavens for a day...a Christian website later admitted that the circulating email was a hoax). Again, that's only assuming the Last Supper story is fake. So this is why I posted this story: can anyone confirm the story above is true? If no one can, I'm going to fire off a stern, but not condescending, to stop emailing me crap and to start respecting my beliefs.
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