According to records, the Last Supper painting supposedly depicts the very moment that Jesus has said to his disciples:

Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?
And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
--Matthew 26

The disciples are all reacting in horror to the thought that someone at that table would betray their master.

However, many people have looked at this painting and wonder if that was ACTUALLY what Leonardo painted. Yes it was what he was TOLD to paint. But if you really study the reactions of the people at the table, a different story appears to emerge.

Visitor Opinion:
'Peter' has always been depicted as particularly hot tempered and quick to act. Lets look at the scene that is unfolding here on this side of the table. The figure of 'Peter' is pressing forward through the others for a direct confrontation. He's doing this so quickly that the two people in his way are being pushed aside. 'Judas' has been pressed into the table and is twisting his head backwards as if to see what is happening. 'Peter' appears to be trying to push past 'Mary' (Or if you don't believe as I do, 'John'), having already removed 'Judas' as an obstacle. The three people behind 'Peter' are reacting to his movement as well. 'Andrew' has his hands up as if in surrender or defense. 'James the Less' is reaching past Andrew as if in attempt to restrain 'Peter'. 'Bartholomew' has his hands planted on the table and is leaning forward, an aggressive stance. On the opposite side of the table, at the far end 'Matthew' and 'Thaddeus' have turned away from the rest of the group consulting with 'Simon'. The gesture of 'Matthew’s hands back towards the middle of the table are an indication that the topic of their discussion has just been revealed. 'Phillip' has his hands point inward indicating himself, his head is tilted in question. 'James the Greater' not only has a flash of outrage on his face, but is recoiling backwards arms spreading wide. 'Thomas' is bracing against 'James the greater', his hand in a gesture that could be interpreted as someone asking for 1 good reason. At the center, we have Jesus. He is turned slightly towards his left with his left hand turned over as if preparing a response. In looking upon him I personally see a man who is saddened by the reactions of others that he knew would occur but sincerely wished would not. At his right we come back to the figure that I call 'Mary'. Unlike every other person at the table, her's is a face of warmth. Her lips curl in a slight smile as if recently complimented. Her hands rest together on top of the table and she her eyes are closed looking down. Her entire demeanor is one of humble pride and acceptance.

While the very nature of art invites people to bring from it what they can, I see a scene unfolding in Leonardo's Last Supper. To me it seems the statement is not about the revelation that a one man among the table is a betrayer...it is the reaction to an unpopular message. My personal impression from Leonardo is that in his mind Jesus made a statement about Mary that has caused a controversy within his own inner circle. For me, that statement would most likely be his intention for her to lead the group after his death. That it would be she whom they should look to for guidance.

My Response -
First, let me say that I'm pretty sure it's documented that the "official scene" Leonardo was painting was that of Jesus having just announced that he was going to be betrayed. So that is what the people who paid for the painting thought they were getting. Of course we know that Leonardo was quite an intelligent, tricky, mischevious person who LOVED to play jokes on people and didn't like the church. So it could very easily be possible that he worked for four years on this painting not because he was in a religious fervor (which I highly doubt) but because he was trying to stuff a lot of hidden meanings into this very carefully without anyone discovering what he was up to. He was walking a fine line of putting a painting into a religious building and filling it full of in-jokes that the people who thought like him would be able to pick out.

I do have to highly agree with you that, if Jesus had just said "someone here will slay me", that Mary shouldn't be looking as if she is saying "awwww you are so sweet". She is definitely looking calm, relaxed and happy. Why in the world would she look relaxed and happy if the person she loves most in the world just said "I'm going to be slain soon by a friend"??? Even if we say it's John and not Mary, John was the most beloved of disciples. HIS reaction would hardly have been one of calm contentment.

In fact, if I had to close my eyes and imagine a beloved teacher sitting with his students, saying "one of you will kill me soon" my immediate reaction would be that the students would rush forward towards him, to hold him and protect him, and to look at the others to keep them away. Instead you have one guy leaning back, the three on the right huddling together saying "what in the world does he mean?" and Peter whispering to MARY instead of even looking at Jesus. The three guys on the left are just sort of looking at Jesus in sort of angry disbelief. I think the whole Andrew-hands-in-the-air thing is tied to the knife so I don't think that has to do exactly with what is being said.

And Judas sits there clutching his 30 pieces of silver, thinking, "So, THAT is your plan ..."

The key here really seems to be Mary's reaction. You could attribute the other reactions to all sorts of reasons. Maybe they're not very smart and when Jesus makes his statement they react out of fear and recoil (which I think would be not a great thing for a student to do but hey, that's just me). But Mary is calm, sweet, loving and shy. To me there can be NO way that she would react like that if the thing he just said was really "someone here will kill me soon." I think you might be right.

Visitor Opinion -
An idea; perhaps Mary has already been told by Jesus of his fate and the decision to make Mary the new "leader", hence her calm and accepting demeanor. Jesus has just told the Apostles that he will be betrayed and now he must choose a successor...which will be Mary.

- Peter is asking Mary, "Did you know about this?!?" or telling her, "You can't do this!"

- Bartholomew wants to be heard and is leaning in to get Jesus to hear/acknowledge him (Jesus' hand is restraining the left)

- James the Minor see Peter has Mary's ear and is trying to get him to ask or say something to her

- Andrew is divorcing himself of the whole matter and is going "Bah" and perhaps looking to Judas to see how he reacts

- Judas is incredulous that he isn't being considered and perhaps afraid that Jesus knows its him

- Thomas could be lecturing or asking for "one good reason" or perhaps citing reasons why Mary cannot become the leader

- James the Major, "How can you do this?!?"

- Philip, "Why not pick me?"

- Matthew, "Simon, what do you think of this? Will you follow Mary?"

- Thaddeus is trying to explain that this cannot work

- Simon seems to be saying, "Listen to Jesus, He knows what he is doing".

My Response -
That seems to make more sense to me than for him to have just said "someone here will kill me" and Mary looking calm and relaxed about it ... definitely it appears that the news is NOT a shock to Mary, whatever it is. It is something she is accepting calmly. And she does look peaceful about it. It would seem to be something about her being a part of the group in SOME way since everyone else is agitated and she is the calm center.

Visitor Opinion -
Perhaps the startling announcement of the Last Supper painting is this: Jesus has just announced that Mary is going to have his baby.

My Response -
Well, that could definitely be one option of what he was saying. I don't know though - they seem pretty upset about it. You would think if the loyal crew knew that Jesus and Mary were an item, that the idea of a baby being the result would not be "shocking" ...

Visitor Opinion -
I think the Last Supper can be exactly what it is. I mean, I believe it really is Jesus announcing to his friends that one of them is going to betray Him. And if we read the gospel about this scene, we can see that after Jesus saying this, Peter bends over to John begging him to ask Jesus who it would be. And that is what we can see on the painting. Peter is whispering something to John. I think that we can make thousands of conspiracy theories, but sometimes we tend to exaggerate. If we really want, we can see things anywhere. Sometimes things are simpler than they seem. People just complicate them - I guess it's our human nature. I believe that DaVinci could have played some pranks on his paintings, but that's one man's view. I believe that if what he believes and all these things were true, the Church wouldn't make it throughout 2000 years. If it was just some man's work, it would be vain and it would be gone. But as it's the work of man AND the work of the Spirit, it still remains after all these times. There were lots of theories and heresies that appeared in some centuries and had many followers, but after some time they collapsed. And even though the Church was very attacked, it survived. I believe it's the same with this book. It's a novel, yes, but many people consider it a "bible". I think that if everybody would be more aware of the Church's things, if they would read more and not just believe what people commonly say about the Church, they would be very amazed to see how things nowadays are distorted. People condemn the Church because they say this or that, but in fact they don't know what does the Church say. That's why it's very easy to spread theories like the one Dan Brown writes about: people's ignorance is like dry herbs - they burn very fast. Only in the end they will realize they have just become useless ashes.

My Response -
Dry herbs make ordinary food very tasty :) So in a way that is what Dan's Brown work has done. He took theories that have existed for centuries and have been often debated in literary circles, and made them tasty for the typical novel reader to digest :) I agree that his works should not be taken as the Factual Truth in any case. They are a fictionalization, regardless of what he says in the forewood or on talk shows. He made most of it up. That all beign said, it's great that so many people are showing interest in a topic that they had never heard of before. Many would say it's about time that people really began to ask some of these questions.

Visitor Opinion -
Lisa, you have a great page, let me give you my congratulations for it. I'm reading the DaVinci Code, so you can imagine how I got here. I just wanted to share with you one thought. I remember I saw this painting when I was a child, and someting brought my attention, and that's something I've always remember. Some people say children can see stuff adults can't. I remember I felt like Jesus was "angry" with the guys at his right, and he was telling them that he knew they did something bad. But on the other hand, he was sad for the guys on his left side.... strange right? That was my feeling as a kid. Now that I'm reading this book, I wanted to look at the picture again, and it seems to me that actually the apostols on the right side of Jesus (left side of the painting) are frightened or ashamed, while the people on the other side are worried, sad, or even telling him off. Could it be that one part of the apostols (including Mary M.) betrayed Jesus, and not only Judas? Crazy idea no? Just something a kid figured out!... Congratulations again for your page!

My Response -
He is sort of turning more to the people on his left vs on his right, and his left hand is open while his right hand is more in a claw-like aspect. It does seem like two people on his left are going towards him (the guy with his finger in the air and the guy in pink) and three other guys on that side are discussing the situation heatedly. On Jesus' right, everyone is much more passive, with only one person whispering to "Mary". You never know ...