The Last Supper
Da Vinci's mural of Jesus and the twelve apostles at the moment he announces one of them will betray him — the most-parodied composition in Western art.
Origin
Painted between 1495 and 1498 on the refectory wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. Leonardo experimented with an oil-and-tempera mix instead of true fresco, and the surface began deteriorating within his own lifetime; what we see today is heavily restored. The composition fixes the dramatic instant — 'one of you will betray me' — with the apostles reacting in clusters of three. Judas is the figure leaning back, knocking over the salt cellar.
Modern usage
The long table with the central figure framed by symmetrical groups is the most-reused composition in advertising, film stills, and political photography. Every joke ad with thirteen people at a table is staging it. The Da Vinci Code (2003) revived public fascination with the painting's symbolism. 'Looking like the Last Supper' means an elaborately staged group photo.
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