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The Last Supper is one of the most revered and moving events that took place two millennia ago during a week we now call the Holy Week.
In his “On the Trail of the Last Supper,” Philip McCouat describes this event perhaps best as follows:
According to Christian belief, on the evening before Jesus died, he gathered his Apostles around him for a last supper together. At the meal, which occurred during the traditional time for celebrating the Jewish feast of the Passover, he gave them the dramatic news that one of them would betray him. He also explained to them that, by breaking bread and drinking wine that he had blessed, they would be partaking of his own body and blood, and urged them to do this in remembrance of him.
The Italian genius Leonardo da Vinci, scientist, sculptor, architect, musician, inventor, etc., etc. and painter immortalized this event in his universally acclaimed masterpiece “The Last Supper.”
Although da Vinci was not the first nor the last artist to portray the sacred event, his mural painting is one of the world’s most famous works of art, possibly the best-known work of Christian art and, without question, the most celebrated and iconic rendering of the Last Supper.
It is also “one of the most studied, scrutinized, and satirized…”
Few pieces have been as profusely copied and imitated.
Even Napoleon commissioned Italian mosaic artist Giacomo Raffaelli to render a mosaic of the Last Supper (below). It resides in the Minoritenkirche in Vienna.
In more recent times, “The Last Supper” has been used as a source for not only tastefully done artistic images, but also for commercial purposes, to promote or highlight social issues and as comedy and parody — some of it extremely offensive.
Popped Culture depicts more than 50 of the most well-known parodies of “The Last Supper,” including “everything from The Sopranos to Sesame Street.”
Again, Philip McCouat:
Depictions of the Last Supper, particularly the very recognisable Leonardo version, are apt to be hijacked, sometimes in radical ways, for the purpose of pursuing social agendas, commercial objectives, or even just irreverent amusement. These are likely to be quite different from the assumptions that originally underlay Leonardo’s work.
He adds, “…it is a tribute to the extraordinary power of the image that it has continued to have an influence on so many fundamental issues – the nature of authority, issues of race and gender, and the nature of popular modern culture itself.”
Back in 2001, “The Last Pancake Breakfast,” a parody of “The Last Supper,” using Toucan Sam, Cap’n Crunch and other breakfast cereal characters, caused a major clamor when it went on display at the Chicago Athenaeum.
At the time, Rev. Phil Horrigan, director of environment and art for the Archdiocese of Chicago, said he was amused, not offended, by “The Last Pancake Breakfast,” according to the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune reported that Horrigan understood why some Catholics would find it disturbing, but quoted Horrigan adding, “My devotion and faith are bigger than any single piece of art.”
With all these caveats in mind and with some trepidation, I want to share with our readers what I feel is an innocent, delightful parody of that famous painting.
It was composed by a very good friend of the family, Ettore Zuccarelli, a person with a great sense of humor, an Italian-American — with a name like that… — a good Roman Catholic, a good all-around person, etc.
Our friend — a little bit of a “ham” — appears 12 times (13, if you count the “bunny rabbit”) in the image which he captions as shown below:
When I asked Ettore about the composition, especially the Easter Bunny, he told me that he sees today’s Easter as a combination of a solemn religious event and a happy family occasion, just as Christmas is.
With one more caveat — “Honni soit qui mal y pense” — I leave you now and wish you a very Happy/Blessed Easter including a splendid Easter dinner with lots of antipasti.
Lead image: Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.
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Mr. Zuccarelli is a Los Angeles based print and video producer with over 16 years experience in the entertainment industry, including the Walt Disney Company and was responsible for the successful launches of ABC’s “Modern Family,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” He now heads EZ-Productions.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.