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Feature
12 Examples Of The Last Supper In Pop Culture
Da Vinci's masterpiece meets The Expendables, The Simpsons and more...

There are many Old Master paintings that show a masterful use of composition: Rembrandt's The Night Watch, El Greco's The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz, Velazquez' Las Meninas, to name just a few. But for some reason it's Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper, a 29ft fresco on the wall of the dining room of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, that is endlessly riffed on in pop culture. Don't believe us? We've gathered a few of the best examples of these re-imaginings below...

WORDS ALASTAIR PLUMB
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M*A*S*H* (1970)

Robert Altman's 1970 satire of the Korean War saw the cast arranged in a tableau reflecting the Last Supper, with Dr Waldowski (John Schuck) taking the place of Jesus at the centre of the table. Waldowski is the company's dentist, and has been driven to despair by a "lack of performance" with a visiting nurse. He decides to commit suicide and consults Donald Sutherland's Hawkeye on the most appropriate method. Hawkeye recommends a black pill, and Waldowski hosts this Last Supper before downing it and, he thinks, dying. Of course, it's only a sleeping pill, and a new nurse soon addresses his worries. So a Last Supper with a happy ending (in both senses), which is probably deeply wrong (in every sense).

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Have Your Say
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Your Comments

1 What about Sham
I immediately thought of Shameless, I think it was the Christmas special from Series 2... http://www.flickr.com/photos/simon_elgood/2725472 660/ More

Posted by Terri_Lita on Tuesday August 14, 2012, 13:09

2 10 - Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Sorry, but the commentary on page 10 is wrong. Those aren't the Presidents from Mount Rushmore. By my count, it's just George Washington ($1) and Benjamin Franklin ($100) both pictured twice on opposite ends. Although Washington is on Mount Rushmore, Franklin isn't. He wasn't even President. The faces of Presidents Lincoln, Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt are on Mount Rushmore, but they are clearly not the persons depicted here. More

Posted by JohG on Saturday August 11, 2012, 20:12

3 Odd...
...the "shocking" painting criticizing rampant consumerism in the US (the one with Spiderman, Buzz, Cap'n Jack et al) managed to raise no eyebrows from me. Maybe I've visited too many Modern Art museums, but that type of message in that type of art gets trotted out so often, my eyes just sort of glaze over. That 'Expendables 2' poster, though? Now -that- nails some of the problems in US culture in a way that did take me aback. More

Posted by HighwayJoe on Saturday August 11, 2012, 15:13

4 RE: 12 Examples Of The Last Supper In Pop Culture
How about The Last Supper for a mash up theme? More

Posted by kinkykeeks on Friday August 10, 2012, 22:22

5 Avengers???
Would the Avengers not eating Schwarma at the end of said film not count?? More

Posted by J_BUltimatum on Friday August 10, 2012, 16:44

6 AHEM....
https://geektyrant.com/storage/page-images/last-alien-s upper-1.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1285132907735 More

Posted by natman_begins on Thursday August 9, 2012, 17:50

7 POM Wonderful
Its in th tablecloth. Well, back to bed for me. More

Posted by roogieman on Thursday August 9, 2012, 13:52

8
Awesome, thanks Ash and guy.. appreciate the feedback More

Posted by chris wootton on Thursday August 9, 2012, 12:55

9
It's David Chase. He never plays a character, just wanted to be in the shot I guess.. More

Posted by ash333 on Thursday August 9, 2012, 11:48

10 Re: Who's that guy?
I struggled with him too but I think its Arthur J. Nascarella who played Carlo Gervasi. Not exactly a main character or an integral part of the show so I'm very surprised he was included in this picture. Surely Adriana, Bobby or Artie would have been better known faces. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0621597/ More

Posted by guysalisbury on Thursday August 9, 2012, 11:36

11 Who's that guy?
I've seen every episode of the Sopranos.. but I cannot place the guy on the far left of the picture.. Can anyone help? More

Posted by chris wootton on Thursday August 9, 2012, 11:05

12 ALAN ALDA'S Hawkeye?!
Come on Empire! Alda's but a mere shadow of the true Hawkeye: Donald Sutherland More

Posted by Peter Becher on Wednesday August 8, 2012, 18:14


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