 |
| Sacristy - Tapestry of Leonardo Last Supper |
Donald draft
of:
Solemnity
of Sts Peter and Paul 29 June 2013
The Peter
and Paul Solemnity seems to have a great flourish by the Liturgy, the Church,
the Vatican, the faithful teaching, a flourish of partiality.
In fact
the key theme is better from Augustine, “One day for the passion of two
Apostles ... they were as one”.
And in
this community-sermon we highlight, not the special preference of Peter and
Paul, but look for the preferential love of the brethren, the communion of our community
life.
This week
we had the celebration of the Birth of St. John of the Baptist and I was
remembered by the paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci;
The Virgin
of the Rocks The Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist and an Angel, and
Leonardo’s Charcoal Cartoon for the Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the
Infant St. John the Baptist.
Why are
these paintings of Leonardo the greatest expressions of communion and presence?
It takes
the historians of paintings to articulate relationships and and mystery in the
living frame..
The
amazing Nations Gallery in London, Leonardo’s Charcoal Cartoon – the depth of
Mary and St. Anne in the exchange and the mystery of Redemption of the
children, the Child Jesus and the Infant of John the Baptist.
Leonardo’s story of ‘the Last Supper’ surpasses
the TV directors today.. Against a
distant background the action of the Last Super in an extreme drama..
‘The Last
Super’ is the same painting subject on the wall of our reading room, donated by
the Knights of Templar, and the same picture, as the tapestry in the Sacristy, shows
surprising accuracy in details. The tapestry was donated ‘in remembrance of
Suzanne Mary Braniff, died 9-12-1986, age 15years.
.
Narrowed down to our interest is the role of
St. Peter in the ‘Last Supper ‘ painting of Leonardo.
There were
twelve apostles at Christ’s last supper. St. Paul not in sight.
In our Liturgy,
the duo “Peter and Paul” is flattered or flattened in contrast to the drama of
the twelve Apostles.
Peter is
not singled out by Leonardo. Peter, himself, is one nub of a radar web net of
the twelve zeroed to the heart of Christ.
The camera
zooms on to Peter, in his right hand he has a knife behind Judas, James the
Elder reaches to touch Peter, so that Peter is to nudge John, who in turn John
asks Jesus ‘who betrayed him’. The six on stage, right of Christ are performing
the ‘act’ in concert.
The more overt ‘acting’ is the language of the
express by arms and hands, illustrated by view .
...........
The Significance of Various Elements in the
Composition of the Painting
Note on Peter.
Michael Ladwein
Leonardo da Vinci – The Last Super
The language and.meaning of gestures
... the ever-long forefinger of Thomas, pointing upwards very striking
and energetically, might also be interpreted as indicating that the doubts he experienced
regarding Christ's Resurrection could only be overcome by actually touching his
wounds John 20,27). This in turn meant that in medieval theology Thomas became the actual witness of the
Resurrection, so that his heavenward-pointing finger came to symbolize Christ's
Ascension." Peter's right hand,
propped on his hip (behind Judas' back)
is holding a knife which at first sight can be regarded as a perfectly legitimate
item of cutlery. But apart from the fact that it is the only knife in the whole
picture, its size and shape also make it appear more like a weapon. Thus it points
to the happening a few hours hence when
Peter, militantly ready to defend Christ,
will cut off the ear of Malchus (while here the ear of .John is willingly turned
towards him and that of Judas involuntarily
hears his urgent enquiry as to the name of the traitor). Thus the knife becomes
in a sense an attribute of Peter.
Apart from Peter,
only Judas is holding in his right hand
an object open to ambivalent interpretation: the purse full of money (Fig.53).
 |
| Judas, Peter, John, 1999 restored |
Initially
it can be seen as the common purse (John 12,6) which he administers, but we immediately
and above all associate it with his traitor's reward of thirty pieces of silver.
Moreover, as he recoils vehemently in surprise, he appears inadvertently to upset
a salt-cellar. This is a most realistic touch," for he is symbolically rejecting
Christ's promise that he too, like the others, shall be 'the salt of the earth',
thus cancelling his links with Christ."
The mystery of the centre:
Judas and John
The relationship between Christ and Judas and the drama played out between them
is the picture's centre of tension. They are the only two who are aware of the dark
and pressing secret: the betrayal. The contrast between these two protagonists is
vividly portrayed in the play of their hands. On the right, Christ's outstretched
left arm ending in the 'giving' hand (which
will soon be pierced by a nail) hovers freely and lightly in the air. On the left
Judas' bent right arm ending in the fist
clutching the full purse rests heavily on the table. (Or is Judas clinging to it to keep himself steady?)
While the principle of polarity is most clearly expressed in these gestures, the
'drama of the hands' culminates in the tension-filled approach to one another of
Christ's right and Judas' left hand with
gestures that are so much alike.
Exactly between these two taut and active hands rest those
of John, folded and interlinked - a counterpoint to all the other hands in the
picture except for a degree of inner similarity with Christ's 'passive' left hand.
In direct contrast to James the Great, his opposite number on the other side, whose
hands are furthest apart, those of John together with the close-held arms (the only
ones in this position) give incomparable expression to his inner withdrawal from
all external happenings, the 'ocean stillness' of his soul. Of these hands it has
been said quite rightly: 'With such a pair of folded hands Leonardo has achieved
what other artists could portray only by painting the whole man John asleep.' (Monstadt)
A similarly subtle gradation can be observed
in the faces, beginning with John - who apart horn Christ is the only figure
portrayed frontally - via the pure profile of Peter and on to the profit perdu of Judas whose glance is directed slightly towards the rear of the picture.
Peter's place between John and Judas gives expression to his spiritual
position as well." It is upon him, the rock, that Christ intends to build
his church, yet during this very night, on the other hand, he will also deny, though
not betray, his Lord.
* * *
BBC Art History
·
·
·
+Latroun.jpg)
