Which artist created the Holy Grail chalice seen in the painting by Da Vinci 'The Last Supper'?

lanfranco

I'm a little puzzled by the question. There is no "chalice" or "grail" in the "Last Supper." Christ's right hand is gesturing towards a small, transparent, flat-bottomed glass of wine and his left towards bread in a representation of the Eucharist. There is a little silver cup near the near-edge of the table in front of St. James (the recoiling figure to Christ's left), but it is playing no role in the Eucharistic moment. It, like all of the elements of the painting, was created by Leonardo himself. If you scroll down on this site, you will see a 16th-century copy of the painting that allows you to see details no longer discernible in the original. It's slightly off in terms of placement of the elements, but it's helpful enough: http://www.abcgallery.com/L/leonardo/leonardo4.html Nov 17 06, 3:40 PM

Brainyblonde

It is claimed that if one looks above the figure of Bartholemew, a Grail-like image appears on the wall. Whether Leonardo meant this to be a representation of the Holy Grail cannot be known, since as pointed out earlier there is a glass on the table within Christ's reach. The "Grail image" has become noticed probably because it only appears when viewing the painting in small scale reproductions. Zooming in on the painting reveals a cluster of geometrical shapes, possibly intended to represent marble wall decoration, or more likely, panneling on a door. They only appear to form a golden chalice when parts are deliberately occluded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo) Nov 17 06, 3:46 PM

SOTHC

You can zoom in on the image of the chalice on the left of the picture & find that its similarity to a chalice soon disappears as you zoom on to it http://milano.arounder.com/da_vinci_last_supper/fullscreen.html Nov 17 06, 3:59 PM

lanfranco

Nice, SOTHC. In fact, that area is intended to represent marble inlay in a pattern repeated on the receding wall. Nov 17 06, 5:18 PM

JaneofGaunt

SOTHC - must say that's a great link - thanks! Nov 17 06, 9:19 PM