A growing curiosity slowly replaced my initial response of ‘statistics and damned statistics’, to a radio report of a study which researched the size of the food, plates and heads of the disciples depicted at the Last Supper! Yes, no kidding, somebody did the stats.
As we approach Maundy Thursday with the Bible readings and remembrance of Jesus Christ at his ‘Last Supper’ with his disciples, the study brings forth cultural curiosity and devotional reflection.
This Maundy Thursday be sure not just to count heads and wash feet, but to measure heads and plates and portions! Oh! And enjoy the supper of thanksgiving at the Lord’s table.
A new article in the International Journal of Obesity doesn’t turn the clock back quite that far, but it does look at nearly a thousand years’ worth of paintings depicting that biblical meal, and concludes that the sizes of portions, plates and bread have “increased dramatically” over that time span.
The study, conducted by the brothers Brian Wansink, a professor of consumer behavior at Cornell University and director of the school’s Food and Brand Lab, and Craig Wansink, a professor of religious studies at Virginia Wesleyan College, looks at 52 Last Supper paintings made between about 1000 and 1800, including famous depictions by Leonardo, Titian and El Greco.
After the sizes of the food in the art works were indexed against the average size of the disciples’ heads (which can vary from painting to painting), the study found that the main courses grew by 69 percent, the plates grew by 66 percent and the size of the bread grew by 23 percent.
Full article at Super-Sizing the Last Supper.
Devotional comment (number 3) from Brother Joseph SFO,
to those who believe, there is nothing more intimate, more powerful and beautiful, more inspiring and good, than this intimate gathering of the kind Master and His dear friends. How I wish everyone could plumb the heart of this sublime gathering and taste ‘the Bread of Life’ – know the life and love of God as a reality in their hearts and minds. There is nothing greater, in this world, this life, than knowing the Living God.
Missiological comment (number 7) re our expressing the Gospel in our context or setting from Jane CO,
In response to some of the comments above: artists were not and are not obligated to be culturally or historically accurate. That is something that our society is very interested in now, but we shouldn’t judge past generations for not displaying the same interest. First of all, they had fewer means to know what would have been historically and culturally accurate than we do today. Secondly, people have always been interested in seeing their own contemporary lives and problems reflected and commented upon by art, even if its main purpose is devotional. I wouldn’t call that selling out. Rather, it is what sparks creativity. Such modernizations also help contemporary viewers to imagine themselves in biblical scenes and relate to what is going on there, thus moving them to devotion.
