Da
Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper” is well known. He painted it on the wall of
a church in the 1490s, and it has deteriorated and been restored several times
since. It’s possible that nobody has a full knowledge of the original details,
especially around the edges. If you don’t know what I mean, compare the one
above with this one.
Regardless of its accuracy, the painting shows Jesus celebrating the Passover with His disciples on the day we now call Maundy Thursday. If you want to be a fly on the wall and listen in to what Jesus said during the meal, read John Chapters 13–17. He clearly knew what was to come even if his disciples didn’t get it at the time.
Jesus’
heart was heavy, and after the meal He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to
pray. Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:32-42, and Luke 22:39-46 all tell us that He
asked His Father to take away the cup (the painful crucifixion) that God had
planned for Him. Yet every time He prayed He ended with, “Yet not my will but
thine be done.” In spite of His agony, He was willing to sacrifice Himself for
us.
The
next image is a 1465 painting by Giovanni Bellini titled “The Agony in the
Garden.”
That agony didn’t last forever. The final piece of art showcased this week is by an apparently unknown painter from the Antwerp School in the early 17th Century. I like this depiction of the crucifixion because the two thieves appear to be writhing in pain while Jesus is at peace. When He died, the battle was over and Satan had been defeated.
The evidence of that would come three days later, at Easter. That’s the subject of next week’s post to end this series.
__________
These
works of art are all in the public domain because of their age.
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