The Last Supper: growing dishes and guinea-pigs

Even though easter has passed it may still be time for some comments on the last supper...

Religious historians Craig and Brian Wansink of Virginia Wesleyan College have in a new study observed how the portions served in illustrations of the last supper have grown over the last 1000 years. Using advanced computer technology 52 of the more famous images was compared; in fact by comparing the size of heads with the foodstuff. The result revealed a plate-increase of 69% and bread-increase of 23%. The scholars relate this trend to an increase in living standard - the image, albeit a timeless motif, is not surprisingly influenced by the contemporary world of the painter.

On a similar note, the Peruvian version of the last supper, from the cathedral at Cusco, show Jesus and company consuming, not bread, but a guinea-pig, a traditional dish in the Andean world. In fact, the overgrown and meaty cousin of guinea-pigs, the capybara, is excused from the list of meats to be avoided during lent. Apparently, so the story goes, it was classified as a fish as it lives in wetlands. Sadly, in Venezuela, this tradition has driven the big guys to the brink of extinction.

Of course, the last supper of Leonardo is among the most copied and imitated paintings in history. Here and here, you will find an extensive list of parodies, from the Simpsons to the Sopranos - perhaps you can note a growth in head size or an increase in the number of plates? For my part, I noted that Popeye's last supper consisted of spinach and hamburgers while the plate of the supermodel's supper was empty...