Nearly everyone is familiar with Leonardo's acclaimed "Last Supper". It ranks right up there with "The Mona Lisa" as one of the more famous works of art. Scholars have long pondered the religious themes. Art historians have studied the numerous lesser versions.
Now there's a group of obesity researchers in England who are looking at the paintings from a completely different angle. Food -- specifically the amount of it on the table in the various renderings. Researchers studied 52 versions and noted that the more recent ones depict about 70% more food, thus reflecting periods of affluence and abundance in a culture.
Perhaps we need to put the kibosh on further 21st century versions. The way Americans eat, we could soon see fast food wrappers, Chinese take-out containers, or super-sized cola drinks at that holy repast. Of course, if the artist is into a more healthy diet, they'd opt for bran muffins, edamame and tofu.
1 comment:
After reading your post I imagined The Last Supper with McDonald's all over the table, half eaten food, wrappers, ketchup squeezed onto the tinfoil wrappers, etc. Got a nice chuckle, thank you !
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