Is this a previously undiscovered Da Vinci portrait? Dubbed La Heterodontosaura by art experts, this painting bears striking similarities to the Mona Lisa, except of course, there's a dinosaur in it rather than a lady.
From my new book A History of Painting (With Dinosaurs), which you should buy on Amazon right now.
Ayo fuck you, redesigns your Dark Turtles. The alterations I did were influenced by Rise's designs. Consider it a kind of not exactly Rise version of them.
There's so much to unpack in da Vinci's Last Supper, so we're going to look at it for a few days.
First up--let's take a look at Judas, the figure on the left in this detail.
da Vinci shows him clutching the bag full of the coins he got for betraying Jesus just as it's being foretold that someone will betray him.
Judas' other hand is reaching toward a bowl, and this is a direct reference to the Bible. Matthew 26:23 it says "Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me."
Most likely, the writer of this gospel meant this figuratively. It's like Jesus is saying that somebody who he's hung out with, eaten with and trusted will betray him.
da Vinci makes this literal as if Judas is guiltily recoiling from a bowl, realizing he dipped his hand in it at the same time as Jesus.
Next, look how long and pronounced Judas' neck is. We get a full view of it unlike the other disciples who are mostly partially obscured. da Vinci was probably foreshadowing that before this story would end, Judas would end his own life by hanging.
Unfortunately, some art historians see racial biases in the portrayal of Judas as well. His skin tone is much darker than the other disciples who are white-passing but in reality would all have had a darker skin tone since they were from what we now call the Middle East.
Complete image
The Last Supper
Leonardo da Vinci
c. 1495-8
Santa Maria dell Grazie, Milan, Italy
"Concerning Flight" (S04E11, Stardate 51386.4) is a mashup of a fun twist on the holodeck malfunction trope and a Voyager gets mugged. The best parts of the episode are reserved for da Vinci, and he elevates some average material. There is a lot of middling stuff to get to the end, but it is entertaining.