La Gioconda

#7 Further Persons

"I'm so proud of you, sister ! Then I guess Sarai and Lisa must be the two models for this Mona Lisa !"

"No, lua, there are actually two more people in this painting."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you notice anything in the composition of this painting?"

"The composition?"

"Yes, there is a man in front of us and a woman to our left."

"There are probably a lot of pictures in the world with that kind of composition."

"I am sorry. Then, in Leonardo's works?"

"In Leonardo's works? Well, I don't know. I don't know."

I started up my laptop, which was already turned off, and put a painting on the screen.

"What is it? Sis, this painting is The Last Supper, isn't it? [note 17]"<pic18>

"Yes."

"This painting depicts Jesus Christ and the Twelve Apostles, right ? So there should be no women in this painting."

"There is a woman, on the right side of Jesus."＜pic19＞

"Right next to him, you mean this person in blue ? But I think he is ......."

"Yes, according to the popular belief, this person is the Apostle John [note17], but I still think this person is a woman.. Probably the Virgin Mary."

"Why do you think so?"

"There are two reasons. The first is that, at least to my eyes, this person looks like a woman."

"Yes, she certainly looks like a woman. What is the second reason ?"

"The second reason is that this person has a completely different atmosphere than the other apostles."

"What do you mean?"

"The scene in this painting depicts the meal Jesus had with the 12 apostles when he suddenly prophesied, One of the 12 will betray me. So the apostles are startled and flustered by Jesus' statement."

"Indeed."

"But this is the only person who doesn't seem to be in a hurry. Rather, this person seems very calm. In other words, this person is not one of the 12 apostles. There is no need to panic because this person is not the object of suspicion, or rather, the expression on this person's face seems to indicate that he is worried and melancholy about Jesus."

"I see. So you are saying that John the Apostle is not depicted in this painting ?"

"No, it does."

"Where?"

"Here."

I pointed to the right hand holding the knife, which is held by the right hand of the Apostle Peter.

"The hand?"

"Yes, this hand belongs to John the Apostle".

"What ? Only a hand?"

"Yes. In this picture, the body of John the Apostle is hidden behind Judas the Apostle. Perhaps like this.

　Jesus Christ : One of these (12 Apostles) will betray me.

　Apostle Peter : What ? Jesus, what did you just say ? Jesus ! Oh, John, you're in my way ! Get out of the way!

　Apostle John : Ah!

"John, who was cutting up some meat or something for Jesus, was suddenly yanked away by an agitated Peter with his right hand and went behind Judas' back. Incidentally, the apostle Andrew, who was standing next to the apostle Peter, is surprised to see the knife held by the apostle John suddenly thrust out in front of him, with his hands in the air!"

"Eh!" <pic20> <pic21>

"Well, this is just a guess. But there are actually other reasons to assume that this person is at least a woman. We'll talk about that later."

"So, if this person is the Virgin Mary, what does that have to do with the Mona Lisa ......?"

"Yes, it does. The Mona Lisa depicts Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary."