Resources > Ask Jeff Is Mary Magdalene in Leonardo’s Last Supper? Posted by CCC CyberMinistries on May 10, 2006, 09:06

Is Mary Magdalene in Leonardo’s Last Supper?

DVC (p 243) “The Last Supper practically shouts at the viewer that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were a pair”

Take a second and think about the big picture for a minute…

Remember this…If Leonardo DaVinci WERE trying to tell us that Mary Magdalene was the Holy Grail…so what?

                Just because Leonardo DaVinci might have believed it, doesn’t make it true…he was an artist…

                He lived 15 centuries AFTER Jesus was alive and any info he might have had was the same flawed stuff of the skeptics that we have been looking at!

Now also notice I did not conclude that Leonardo was trying to communicate this stuff or believed it…

The LAST SUPPER itself…is the moment shortly after Jesus has said, “One of you will betray me” (John 13:21) After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."

Is the figure sitting next to Jesus Mary?

DVC (p.243) “how about the one seated in the place of honor, at the right hand of the Lord…The individual had flowing red hair, delicate folded hands, and the hint of a bosom. It was without a doubt…female”

So is it Mary or John?

The fact that John looks feminine is easily understood.

According to Bruce Bocher, Curator of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago states, “St. John was usually represented as a beautiful young man. That is the method that Florentine artists usually painted John.”

This same approach can be seen in other paintings including, Leonardo’s own…Saint John the Baptist (1413) which shows a young man, feminine in appearance, flowing hair, delicate hands

Also, if the person next to Jesus is Mary Magdalene, then where is John in the painting?

There are 13 figures in the painting

We know that Jesus at the last supper was with his disciples, so if Mary was to be included then there should have been 14…

If Leonardo was trying to send a message, this would have been a dumb mistake

                He would not have intentionally left John out, not as important as John is, he would have surely left out a lesser known, unknown disciple….especially if he was trying to send a message…a secret message, yet preserve a secret?

What about Peter’s aggressive stance toward Mary or John?

DVC (p.248) “That is Peter there. You can see that Da Vinci was well aware of how Peter felt about Mary Magdalene…Peter was leaning menacingly toward Mary and slicing his blade like hand across her neck”

Actually, it looks like Peter is leaning in to talk to John

That would be why John’s head may be tilted toward Peter as if Peter is saying something in his ear…

(John 13:21-26)  After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."

 22His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means."

 25Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"

 26Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon

Peter does have an angry look on his face

But why not? Jesus has just said someone would betray him….

The blade like hand drawn is actually Peter putting his hand on John’s shoulder to talk to him. Everything we know about Peter is that he did have a temper and was emotional and prone to big reactions. Can’t you imagine him reacting, leaning in, and grabbing John on the shoulder to talk…

The DVC also mentions the disembodied hand with a daggar…

Once again, it is Peter reacting and probably is foreshadowing what happens after dinner in the garden as Peter cuts off the ear