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A Nun’s 450-Year-Old ‘Last Supper’ Makes Its Museum Debut in Florence

67 points by Vigier 7y ago

wavefunction 7y ago
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!
wincy 7y ago
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 7y ago
  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?
  - jaclaz 7y ago
    Santa Maria Novella is a large "complex" comprising both the church and monastery (and the museum) see: https://www.smn.it/en/ https://www.smn.it/en/ https://www.smn.it/en/opera-santa-maria-novella/ https://www.smn.it/en/opera-santa-maria-novella/ http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it/en/smn/visitamuseo/ http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it/en/smn/visitamuseo... A part of it (the so-called monastero nuovo or "new monastery" on the side of the station) has been for almost 100 years rented to the Carabinieri that had there a School for Officers, that recently moved so that the buildings were returned to the city: http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it/export/sites/museicivici/materiali/SMN_Anteprima_di_un_grande_museo-_pannelli_195x185.pdf http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it/export/sites/musei...
  - wahern 7y ago
    > 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.”
- nrp 7y ago
  It’s kind of hard to follow in the article, but the painting was moved to a different location within the same church complex that was converted into a museum. It’s hard to call that stealing it, and beside the public benefit. it’s likely a better spot for it to be preserved long term.
- mikece 7y ago
  “Would she really have wanted it stolen..?” The painting is inscribed “pray for the painter” and anything that would bring that message to more people is what she would want.
JohnJamesRambo 7y ago
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.
HarryHirsch 7y ago
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 7y ago
  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.
kwhitefoot 7y ago
Why is it that web pages extolling the virtues of paintings are always illustrated by small low resolution photographs?
- krapp 7y ago
  Bandwidth is a thing, despite what a lot of web developers believe, and most people browse the web on mobile phones.
  - germanier 7y ago
    Which hasn't stopped then from loading 10 megabyte of random crap instead.
    - krapp 7y ago
      Sure. But 10 megabytes of random crap and another several megabytes for an image would still be worse.
mirekrusin 7y ago
Bit racist, the only bad guy is also dark skin toned.
- GarrisonPrime 7y ago
  I think he's only darker to imply a lack of divine light. He's also the only one without a halo.
black_puppydog 7y ago
> 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.
krilly 7y ago
I love that little logo at the end of every atlas obscura article. Great branding.
empath75 7y ago
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.
GarrisonPrime 7y ago
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 7y ago
  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 7y ago
    > 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 7y ago
      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 7y ago
        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
julienchastang 7y ago
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.

67 points by Vigier 7y ago

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!

wincy 7y ago

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 7y ago
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?
- jaclaz 7y ago
  Santa Maria Novella is a large "complex" comprising both the church and monastery (and the museum) see: https://www.smn.it/en/ https://www.smn.it/en/ https://www.smn.it/en/opera-santa-maria-novella/ https://www.smn.it/en/opera-santa-maria-novella/ http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it/en/smn/visitamuseo/ http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it/en/smn/visitamuseo... A part of it (the so-called monastero nuovo or "new monastery" on the side of the station) has been for almost 100 years rented to the Carabinieri that had there a School for Officers, that recently moved so that the buildings were returned to the city: http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it/export/sites/museicivici/materiali/SMN_Anteprima_di_un_grande_museo-_pannelli_195x185.pdf http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it/export/sites/musei...
- wahern 7y ago
  > 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.”
nrp 7y ago
It’s kind of hard to follow in the article, but the painting was moved to a different location within the same church complex that was converted into a museum. It’s hard to call that stealing it, and beside the public benefit. it’s likely a better spot for it to be preserved long term.
mikece 7y ago
“Would she really have wanted it stolen..?” The painting is inscribed “pray for the painter” and anything that would bring that message to more people is what she would want.

JohnJamesRambo 7y ago

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.

HarryHirsch 7y ago

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 7y ago
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.

kwhitefoot 7y ago

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

krapp 7y ago
Bandwidth is a thing, despite what a lot of web developers believe, and most people browse the web on mobile phones.
- germanier 7y ago
  Which hasn't stopped then from loading 10 megabyte of random crap instead.
  - krapp 7y ago
    Sure. But 10 megabytes of random crap and another several megabytes for an image would still be worse.

mirekrusin 7y ago

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

GarrisonPrime 7y ago
I think he's only darker to imply a lack of divine light. He's also the only one without a halo.

black_puppydog 7y ago

> 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.

krilly 7y ago

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

empath75 7y ago

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.

GarrisonPrime 7y ago

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 7y ago
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 7y ago
  > 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 7y ago
    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 7y ago
      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

julienchastang 7y ago

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.