I was fortunate to see Da Vinci’s Last Supper painting a few years ago in Milan, Italy. It is truly overwhelming in size and beauty. One of the best parts of traveling is learning the history of the things one sees. That was true about this painting.

The painting is on a remaining wall of what was a monastery. The monastery and most of the church next to it were destroyed by a bomb during WWII. The wall with Da Vinci’s painting remained. It was declared to be a miracle. It had been protected by sand bags, but those could not have stopped a bomb. Today it is protected by a controlled moisture environment. Before viewing it, we went through a dust filtering chamber. Only fifteen minutes were allowed and everyone viewed it in silence. It was an experience I will always remember.

I did some research on the painting recently and found this interesting. It was common for painters to use friends and paid models for their paintings and rumor had it that Da Vinci painted a known criminal as Judas. I examined the photo and thought this man could be the man people referred to. It is possible.

A reader’s theater piece, Face of Jesus, was written by Dave Tippett who used the idea of Da Vinci painting his enemy. He imagined Da Vinci painting a fellow painter (whom he hated) as Judas. Da Vinci would delight in others seeing his enemy as Judas. However, he couldn’t paint the face of Jesus. Every attempt failed. Tippett wrote that Da Vinci realized that unless he forgave his enemy he wouldn’t be able to paint the face of Jesus. The realization enabled him to finish the painting after he forgave his enemy. It’s such a good lesson about forgiveness. In fact, we’re using this piece at my church for a Lenten service. According to Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. It’s hard to forgive someone who has hurt us, but Lent is a good time to try. Wishing you all a meaningful Lenten season.