Facts About DaVinci’s Last Supper

Maundy Thursday is entrenched in Jesus's training from John 13, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
In Jerome's Latin Vulgate bible, the word for this new power is mandato same word from which we get mandate. It's also thought to be the origins of the name Maundy. There is a new mandate signified two ways in the four gospels: the redefinition of the Passover meal as Eucharist, and the washing of feet as a sign of how the new society workings.

10 Facts about DaVinci's Last Supper:

• Why did DaVinci choose this subject matter for his painting?
• How big is it?
• Where is the painting located?
• How long did it take and when was it finished?
• Who is Jesus sharing a meal with in this picture?
• Can you name those seated at the table from left to right?
• Why is the painting in such poor condition?
• Why can we not see Jesus's feet?
• What year was the painting's major reinstatement ended?
• What is DaVinci's most famous painting?

Answers:

• The work was specially made by the Duke of Milan, and the subject matter was chosen for DaVinci.
• 15 feet tall by 29 feet wide.
• The original mural is on a wall of the refectory (dining hall) in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy.
• It took DaVinci (a noted procrastinator with a history of leaving works unfinished), about three years to complete the mural from 1495 to 1498.
• They are the 12 disciples.
• Bartholomew, James, Andrew, Judas, Peter, John, Jesus, Thomas, James (brother of John), Phillip, Matthew, Thaddeus, and Simon.
• The painting is in such poor condition because instead of painting in wet plaster, DaVinci chose to paint this in dry plaster. The immediate result was a much more stunning piece. The long term disaster was that it was not at all durable. It was not unlike painting on a cement wall with Tempura paint.
• Jesus did originally have feet, but in 1650 another door was added to the refectory and so the portion of the painting beneath Jesus (nobody knew how famous it would eventually be), was literally demolished. What you see there is an old doorway.
• 1999.
• Mona Lisa.

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