If you buy the theory that Mary is in The Last Supper, you start to wonder "where did John go?" Of course the answer most say is that Leonardo replaced John with Mary. If he had 13 apostles there, the people who paid for the painting would have gotten upset. He was trying to be subtle, to "insert" Mary without the local natives really noticing.

Still, the conspiracy theories abound. Here is one. Look at this close-up of Peter, who is leaning over to talk to Mary. Andrew is to Peter's right, putting his hands up in shock.

OK, the theory here is that Peter is actually leaning behind a short man. The hand/knife actually does not belong to Peter, it belongs to this mysterious short man. Here is my highlighting of the two people involved.

I find this rather far-fetched, that the two men are dressed in the same colors and that the features on the "short guy" are so fuzzy and hidden while every other face in the painting is clear and crisp and done with flesh-colored paint. But you could say this is another hidden meaning by Leonardo ...

Visitor Submission -
You can clearly see (I can anyway!) the man - fourth from the left and directly in front of the man leaning over and whispering to the woman- scrunched up and leaning forward holding perhaps a knife. I can make out his skull shape,eye orbits, nose and mouth -he is looking down in the same position one would expect if you were sat in a row and the person on your left leaned across the back of you to speak to the person on your right. It certainly happens this way when I have been sat at a long table with friends. You can even make out the neckline of his garment either side of his face. So no missing apostle after all! Although his head appears a normal size his body seems small but then it is half hidden by the man on his left. I guess it is all a matter of perspective.In the restored version it has obviously been overlooked. Hope this is of some interest to you!

Visitor Submission -
The little guy with the knife. Even if he exists (which I doubt) if you look carefully you'll see the knife is in a right hand yet is appearing from his left. So unless he was a contortionist....

My Response -
OK, so now we have a short man with blue hair who also was born with backwards hands ...