Absolutely Fascinating : Ruminations on Dali’s ‘Sacrament of the Last Supper’
Today I returned to the National Gallery of Art after 2 years and Salvador Dali’s ‘The Sacrament of the Last Supper‘ turned out to be the fascinating and provocative piece for my friend and I during our visit.
We found ourselves staring at the piece and discussing it for some time. Of note for us were the fact that unlike other paintings of the Biblical era, this piece takes place against a backdrop of water. We also noticed that unlike other paintings of The Last Supper, the chalice has been replaced by a much more contemporary looking glass more fit for liquor than wine. The spirit of another Jesus (pbuh) in the crucifixion pose above the disciples and Jesus himself also fascinated us. We wondered why Jesus (pbuh) was lifting his left hand with a single finger pointing up? We also found it interesting just how contemporary the 1955 image was, in fact, I kept commenting that it looked like it could have taken place ‘in this building.’
We had other questions like why two disciples wore blue and yellow, but ultimately had few answers with which to understand such an interesting piece.