Artibus et Historiae no. 48 (XXIV)
2003, ISSN 0391-9064Up
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JACK WASSERMAN - Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. The Case of the Overturned Saltcellar
Recent cleaning of Leonardo's Last Super in the Dominican refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, accentuates an amorphous discoloration near the right wrist of Judas. The discoloration is the residue of what replicas of the painting show as a saltcellar Judas accidentally overturns,spilling its contents onto the table. My paper poses and responds to three questions. When and why was the saltcellar reduced to ghost-like status? Did Leonardo originate the idea of including the utensil in a Last Supper? What idea does the object convey in a Last Supper context?
