Leonardo da Vinci’s preparatory study for The Last Supper

The study

Leonardo da Vinci had an access to books and also to the Bible. It was also possible for him to consult various questions with monks or religious people for whom he was completing various tasks [1]. During the age of Enlightenment which gave a new impulse for studying of his works and life, this particular aspect was pushed more into a shadow background.

At the time of creation of the Last Supper it was a living tradition in Lombardy-Tuscany to label or to think through particular depictions of Apostles in Last Supper art Works [2]. The sources were a living tradition at that time and the Bible. So now I am trying to put down the aspects which are this way inspired. Many of them being a direct Leonardo’s intention, revealing a part of his creative mind. Some could be an unintentional coincidence, but the Study still stays a superior annotation of biblical descriptions.

Basically in the Study there are annotated 9 names, one of them twice (Philip). There is no hesitation about who is Jesus, St. John and Judas in this drawing. I am also inclined to believe the Study was drawn very late in a creation process, depicting a situation just one second before the final art-work on more occasions: what had started here is more expressively finished in the final.

Central three

At the center, around, closest to Jesus is a triplet of the Apostles: Peter, John and James the Greater. According to the Bible they were the only ones accompanying Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and later in the garden of Gethsemane. James the Greater and John were brothers.

There is also known another triplet of Peter, John and James the Minor: they have been called three pillars of the first century Christian church [3]. James the Greater was the first martyred Apostle (in Jerusalem; according to tradition, his remains are held in Santiago de Compostela, Spain) and James the Minor was considered a Jesus’s relative (also called J. the Lesser and identified with J. son of Alphaeus in a significant part of Catholic church tradition until recent times).

Philip – the upper right corners’s and the bottom one

In the drawing there are two figures labelled as Philip. The upper right corner gesture is very Philip like as he was the one who called Bartholomew (Bartholomew has been identified with Nathanael according to traditions) [4]. So “the calling hand sign” can be ment not just for “not very much anticipating” figure of Matthew. On the upper right corner he is visualized “shorter” just like the opposite Bartholomew and this is creating a perspective view. Together they are forming opposites of what becomes a side of death [5] and thus of what I would call “a side of life” in the final painting of The Last Supper.
Upper right person can be also James the Minor as he has some special place, sitting at one of the ends of a table, like in other LS from this time, somebody is turning towards him, but he is never positioned very close to Jesus. The connecting hand gesture may also reference, that not only this James, but also Matthew were called “son of Alphaeus”, though not considered brothers in Western Catholic tradition.

Two Philips, or joined Philip and James the Minor figures can annotate, that the two have a joined feast day from early centuries on.
Finally the upper right corner name,which literally reads as Filippo, has its first letter clearly shaped as “T” (reminiscent only of a lower half of typical F, for example as in the name of other Filipo). Which can reference to Jude Thaddeus who was almost always depicted next to Simon the Zealot at the time and whose written down name is missing in the Study. And they still have a feast day on the same day.

The bottom Philip seems “Philip” only by his name, completing “the four” originating from Bethsaida village. As it was recorded in Gospel of John[6], in a region of Bethsaida happened the first calling of Peter, Andrew, Philip and Bartholomew. I am not arguing these facts nowadays, just figuring out details in the Study.
Maybe this was also a reason for not annotating the last – bottom right figure. All in all, the uniquely annotated figures seemed to have strongly decided their position, while unmarked ones –apart of Jesus- were a subject to a change of sitting on the final LS.
This bottom figure can be also James the Minor, by having his kind of majesty and his looks are not excluding being a close relative of Jesus [7], which was a part of his depicting tradition[8], upon which Leonardo might be holding to. Also in some old traditions James the Minor and Jude Thaddeus were brothers (Epistle of Jude) [9], so they also could be put together in a preparatory study.

More to say, two Philips have similar, not identical face and hair.

Jude Thaddeus

The bottom right unlabeled figure can be considered Jude Thaddeus, I have not seen otherwise. Unconclusively annotated James the Minor was depicted in a tradition of LS as rather younger one (at least at some other LS works at master Leonardo’s region, during his time. Reasons might be, that James the Minor could be represented as younger than J. the Greater).

Again he could be depicted next to James the Minor, annotating the sibling notion [8], but also belongs more nearby Simon the Zealot. So I take this label-omitting as master’s intention, in accordance with endeavor of illustrating many of the inter-relations and knowledges.

It seems Jude Thaddeus is pointing his hands to Judas Iscariot possibly in an allegoric defence, because he would be interchanged with Judas in the next future. The same applies to his “cut left upper corner hand”. This mixing started already with the Bible [10] and continued throughout the history across the other languages. This motive seems to be present , in some form, also in name labelled LS of Andrea del Castagno and Pietro Perugino.

Jesus

Jesus’s right hand is prepared doing its own, while the middle finger is pointing at Judas or it has indicated a movement towards him (by an extra line). I find the hand is turned towards us by its (grayed out) palm.

Many describe this hand design as childish [11] which emphasizes the innocence of a gesture.

Rather than speaking about Judas’s lower part as unfinished (in a hurry) I prefer to find explanations. Around his right leg is twisting around a veil. I will discuss this more in a following.

Antagonism – contrasting couples

Citing master Leonardo: “Pleasure and Pain represent as twins, since there never is one without the other; and as if they were united back to back, since they are contrary to each other.” [12]
Doing the analysis is needed to find contrasts in the work:
I already mentioned elderly Bartholomew and the youngster sitting at the opposite side of table.
There is Jesus and Judas and there are rather simple Jesus’s face contours and like childish-drawn right hand. This hand is in a strict contrast with a sharp lined leg of table.

In Thomas and James the Greater we can see a rational and an emotional person and as well we need joined Matthew and Simon the Zealot as the most Jewish “unclean” and “fervent” person. These motives seem to be further advanced in the final painting of LS. 

The Last Supper is a “proof of Leonardo’s understanding”, he was trying to “ascertain basic causes, reasons and principles” and “every act of looking and drawing is an act of analysis, and on the base of analysis the human creator can remake the world.” [12]

List of the names, in original, from right to left: F(T)ilippo, Simone, Matteo, Tome, Iacopo Magore, Pietro, Filipo, Andrea, Bartolomeo  

Literature and comments

[1] “He (Leonardo) surely read up on the Apostles in the Golden Legend, the common sourcebook used by Renaissance artists for the lives of the saints, printed in Italian translation since 1475. As need arose, Leonardo may have consulted a learned adviser, such as Prior Vincenzo Bandello – visualizing from the information received.” – Leonardo’s Incessant Last Supper; p. 79-80; Leo Steinberg; 2001

“The first printed translation of the Bible into Italian was the so-called Malermi Bible, by Nicolò Malermi in 1471 from the Latin version Vulgate.” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_translations_into_Italian

[2] Name labeling can be seen at least in Andrea del Castagno’s, Pietro Peruginos’s, the one situated in Ponte Capriasca and finally in Leonardo da Vinci’s Study of the Last Supper. Three of Ghirlandaio’s LS also have repeating patterns telling us about well thought illustration of individual Apostles.
[3] “James and Cephas (Peter) and John, who had the name of being pillars” – Galatians 2:9

[4] “Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.‘  ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?‘ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,‘ said Philip.” – John 1:45-46

[5] “The Side of Death” – Leonardo’s Incessant Last Supper; p. 89; Leo Steinberg; 2001
[6] John 1:35-51
[7] “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon?” – Mark 6:3
“…but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother.” – Galatians 1:18 – 2:10
[8] Goethe on Comparison between the copies of Oggiono and Vespino states: “St. James the Younger, likewise a profile. An undeniable family-resemblance with Christ…” – Observations on Leonardo Da Vinci’s Celebrated Picture of the Last Supper; p. 36; J. W. Goethe & G. H. Noehden; 1821
[9] “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, … “- Jude 1:1
[10] “Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, ‘But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?‘ ” – John 14:22

[11] “the most problematic of Leonardo’s relics. It is a poor design. The right arm of Christ, with its hand, is what can be expected from a child.”
Italian source:
“la più problematica delle reliquie di Leonardo. È un disegno scadente. II braccio destro di Cristo, con relativa mano, è quanto ci si può aspettare da un bambino.” – Leonardo da Vinci: An Account of his development as an Artist; K. Clark; 1939

[12] Manuscript; 676; Leonardo da Vinci;
[13] Leonardo, p. 25-28; M. Kemp; 2004