I have this growing fascination with the use in pop-culture of Christian sacred imagery. I’m thinking of doing an occasional post that treats a Christian (or other religious) icon and examples of its currency in our culture. My current fave is the Last Supper (most artists seem to play off of Da Vinci’s famous painting). There’s quite a variety here, including a surrealist painting, a scene from a Broadway musical, and a fashion ad.
Each of the images is also an external link–either to a bigger image or to additional information.
I should start off with the grandpappy of all Last Supper depictions:
Salvador Dali:
I scanned the next one from the insert from my Jesus Christ Superstar Motion Picture Soundtrack. I love the lyrics from the song that leads into this scene:
Always hoped that I’d be an Apostle
Knew that I could make it if I tried
Then when we retire
We can write the Gospels
So they’ll still talk about us when we’ve died
The next one is one of my favorites (it’s the centerpiece of a collage of Last Supper pictures in my office). It was the subject of some controversy.
This next one is from Bettina Rheims’ I.N.R.I. I’m not sure if this was the intention, but much of it Gucci’izes the Christ narrative. I have mixed feelings about her work, which I may make the subject of another post.
I’m going to include one more photo (not of the Last Supper) from Rheims to show more of her style. This could be the cover of a U2 album, if U2 had 10 extra members (and you can see Apostle Edge in his trademark beanie).
The next painting is kind of neat because it inserts women and children into the more typical all-male meal:
I’m curious to hear what you think about these experiments with a convergence of Christian narratives and icons. If you know of any links to other cool depictions, please let me know (though you might not want to post multiple links at once in a comment, cause then the spam-checker gets mad).
6 responses so far ↓
1 pilgrimgirl // Apr 1, 2006 at 4:02 pm
I find the supermodel picture totally difficult to look away from. It’s on the wall in John’s office and it catches my eye constantly while I am visiting him. Not sure why–maybe because it’s just such a complex image?
2 Miko // Sep 13, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Have you read the da Vinci Code? What do you think of it? My own studies lead me to similar discussions of the the da Vinci Last Supper before the book/movie because a “sensation”. I’m on the fence about the worth of having these sorts of ideas popularized. It is interesting that other Last Suppers follow the same style (one giant, long table) and I wonder if he was really the first to do that: are there any Last Suppers in that style that pre-date da Vinci’s? I really like the “Standing Last Supper”. Not sure why: it seems to have the same emotional force as the sitting ones but have more action. As though it’s not just a moment in time, but perhaps a sacrament that continues?
incidentally, I was a restaurant the other day and heard someone (out of the corner of my ear, not sure what he was talking about) say “Lea-nar-doe-duh-vink-ee” which made me want to wash my ears out.
3 John // Sep 15, 2006 at 12:37 am
There’s a lot to the DaDa Vinkee Vinci Code, and I think I have different opinions on different aspects of it. As far as how the book treats the symbolism embedded in the paintings, I don’t have any strong opinions. I don’t I do like the resurgence of interest in the divine feminine and in Mary Magdelene that’s resulted, though.
Share with us your insights from your studies of the painting!
4 Calamari and the Last Supper. | Mind on Fire // Jan 25, 2009 at 9:54 am
[...] I love reinterpretations of Da Vinci’s iconic Last Supper (esp. in pop culture). I’ve written about this in the past, and I have a small collection of some of random favorites posted on the wall of my closet [...]
5 xJane // Oct 21, 2009 at 4:17 pm
I’m a recent huge fan of Battlestar Galactica, which has this
It is “decoded” here. The person in the center is a cylon (android) but also sort of the voice of god. She appears to who she calls god’s prophet and gives him information he would not otherwise have. The majority of humans in BSG are atheist or polytheist (they say, “my gods” instead of “my god”, which I find unbearably awesome) but cylons advocate the one true god who rejects false gods and promises salvation and life after death to his (it is a he) followers. I don’t know how much religion will come into the series in the future and I haven’t gotten to the point in the series where this image came out, but the ship is on a mission to find Earth, a mythical planet of humans and the lost thirteenth colony. Certain myths seem to have some truth in them and a prophecy made long ago seems to be in the process of being fulfilled.
It is not an overtly religious show, but there is a strong undercurrent which makes its appropriation of this iconic image even more interesting.
6 John // Oct 22, 2009 at 8:39 am
xJane, great photo! I’ll have to add it to my collection.
btw, guess who wrote the original Battlestar Galactica, and infused it with funky theology? That’s right, a Mormon!
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