
A Nun’s 450-Year-Old ‘Last Supper’ Makes Its Museum Debut in Florence - Vigier
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/first-last-supper-woman-painter-florence
======
wincy
Wow they used a legal loophole to steal a church artifact and seize it for the
state. The story is interesting but the painting has been there for hundreds
of years, and was made by a nun. Would she really have wanted it to be stolen
from a convent so godless materialists could ogle at it and feel good about
women’s liberation?

~~~
asveikau
Obviously neither of us can speak for them, but somehow I kind of doubt the
people at the church would use such charged and possessive language. I would
think they would be glad to see it restored (looked like it was in bad shape)
and bringing joy to more people in a museum.

And it seems even that the museum is a former church where it stood anyway?
Did I get that right?

~~~
wahern
> The friars were supportive of restoration efforts on Nelli’s “Last Supper,”
> but they didn’t want to permanently release it from their refectory. “They
> saw it as part of their day-to-day life and were very concerned that I and
> other art historians and officials would want to remove it from their dining
> room,” Nelson recalls of the monks’ attitude when he saw the painting in the
> 1990s. “Which is exactly what happened.”

------
HarryHirsch
The depiction of the paschal lamb is interesting. It is roasted whole, with no
bone broken, as the Law of Moses demands. Jesus, after all, observed the law
to the fullest.

Catholics will be reminded of the third stanza of _Pange, lingua_.

~~~
dmix
I wonder what other weird rituals they were doing back then. Even ones not
covered in the bible. Their lifestyle should really highlight the massive
culturally differences from then until now.

I've been meaning to read up on what the old roman life in Judea around 0BC
was like.

------
wavefunction
The colors are gorgeous even on my impoverished screen: I can only imagine
what this work looks like in person and with real light. A style reminiscent
of other masters but unique and undeniably her own. And the scale of this
work! Sure it compares favorably with similar great works but to languish in
obscurity for so long...

Thanks for sharing this article!

------
kwhitefoot
Why is it that web pages extolling the virtues of paintings are always
illustrated by small low resolution photographs?

~~~
krapp
Bandwidth is a thing, despite what a lot of web developers believe, and most
people browse the web on mobile phones.

~~~
germanier
Which hasn't stopped then from loading 10 megabyte of random crap instead.

~~~
krapp
Sure. But 10 megabytes of random crap and another several megabytes for an
image would still be worse.

------
GarrisonPrime
I assume the one without a halo is Judas.

Rather ironic, since without his betrayal there would have been no absolution
of humanity's sins.

~~~
todd3834
I hadn’t noticed one didn’t have a halo! Thanks for pointing that out. Judas
did play a role but the story doesn’t end well for him. He was also accused of
stealing money from the group before this moment [0]. I think having a visible
halo is kind of funny in general but giving one to all but Judas is actually a
solid sense of humor from the artist.

0: [https://biblehub.com/john/12-6.htm](https://biblehub.com/john/12-6.htm)

Edit: typo

~~~
krapp
> I think having a visible halo is kind of funny in general but giving one to
> all but Judas is actually a solid sense of humor from the artist.

Given the prevalence of the belief in Christendom that Judas was cursed by God
for his betrayal, I doubt it's meant to be taken as a joke.

~~~
todd3834
Perhaps but I like my interpretation of the art more than yours. Not that
yours is invalid.

Also, anyone notice Jesus looks super Irish? I thought they would all look
much more middle eastern than that.

~~~
karmelapple
Walking through an art museum a few years ago, I was struck with how many
depictions of Jesus had red hair. Once you start noticing it, it’s tough to
miss... even though the chances of him looking like that is likely almost nil.

Having someone who looks like your local populace, or what your local populace
aspires to be, could help with people embracing or identifying with the person
in the picture. This strategy was employed in a variety of religious
paintings, and even in this one a little, such as the fava beans. Here’s a
version in Peru that incorporated the local cuisine of guinea pigs and corn
beer: [https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/guinea-pig-last-
supper](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/guinea-pig-last-supper)

------
JohnJamesRambo
This was a fascinating read. The roasted lamb looks really bizarre and alien.
I didn’t know what it was until the text described it.

I love the painting. The colors are spectacular and the expressions are very
original and full of life.

------
empath75
The way she painted St John is fairly interesting — he’s painted to look
feminine and I even wonder if it’s a self portrait or a portrait of one of the
nuns.

------
julienchastang
While looking at the image, I was struck by the geometric folds, texture and
relief of the table cloth. The many colors are also beautiful.

------
krilly
I love that little logo at the end of every atlas obscura article. Great
branding.

------
black_puppydog
> We value your privacy

> [...]

> You don't have a choice to not be tracked, consent now.

Apart from being a prime reason why the GDPR was a good idea, it's also one of
those things that make me insta-kill a tab. Sorry, I still haven't found any
content on the web that is unique enough to let myself be disrespected in this
kind of way.

------
mirekrusin
Bit racist, the only bad guy is also dark skin toned.

~~~
GarrisonPrime
I think he's only darker to imply a lack of divine light. He's also the only
one without a halo.

