The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-03-08


the loss Of teeth,} and the under lip Is . lit
tie prominent, as >is often the, case with
elderly men. The nose, too, is long and
pointed. He is[ utterly surprised, and his
attitude, as well as his ,featuGes, expresses
the greatest astonishment mingled with
terror. Not only the expression ofthe face,
but the hair of Peter is different in differ
ent copies. Predominant in him is the feel
ing of grief. He wants to know who is
meant, and turns to John, laying his left
hand on Johns shoulder and breast, He
asks John who it is of whom Christ spoke,
as is recorded in John 13; 1926. But while
Peter thus bends forward toward John, his
right arm presses upon Judas, who sits next
to him, pushing him little, so that the
right arm of Judas overturns the vessel of
salt standing by him, a well-known evil
omen. Peter, moreover, has sword-like
knife in his right hand, as if he would pun
ish the betrayer. In this, though not in
ening. Goethe remarks that the face of
Peter, as it now appears in the painted-over
picture, is that of q severe Capuchin, arOus-
ing sinners by his fast-sermOns. His upper
garment is yellow, the lower one blue. In
regard to Judas, we must add that in one
hand he holds the bag; and the other, the
left, is stretched out in q peculiar way, as
if he would grasp something. This Left
hand, too, follows quite different direction
from his eye; truly thievish, the eye watches
whether any one sees the evil attempt of the,
hand. His look, not without fear and h0r-
TOT, is turned toward Christ and it is very.
possible that the peculiar gesture Of the left
hand is meant to express this fear, and no
might act thus. The shadow cast upon the
whole figure, and especially upon the face
of Judas, makes the sharp lines of his face
still sharper.
"The countenance of John;n says Goethe,
beautifully rounded, slightly oval, with
soft, curling hair, is most lovely. The little
that is seen of the dark eye, ESQ much of it
as is seen, is turned away from Peter-an.
infinitely delicate cOnception-fOr when one
listens with deep feeling to the secret whis-
pered by his neighbor, he does not look at
him. In the copy Of Bianchi Yespino, Tin
the Ambrose library at Milan,) John is a
quiet, almost sleepy youth, showing not a
particle Of interest in what is going on
But the great Leonardo did not certainly
intend to SO represent him. The thought
that the dreaded moment when he must lose
his Master was 80 near at hand, must have
filed his loving heart with the deepest emo
ton, and this, indeed, is expressed in the
picture. The fingers of the two hands of
John are interlocked-whicha among the an
clients was the natural expression of grief.
Next to our Lord, at his left hand, (the
right of the spectator we see the head of
st. Thomas, with the raised forefinger.-
Wiseman and Others suppose that he. is
swearing vengeance, but Goethe supposes
that kind of doubt is indicated by the ac-
ton. 1t seems to me that the face is not
intense enough for one swearing vengeance,
and even Goethe's explanation does not sat
isfy me. AS I conceive it, Thomas, won
dering and astonished, exclaims to himself,
How! WhatEIs it possible I" species of
doubt, it is true, but more astonishment
than doubt. Nothing is seen of Thomas
besides the head and hand. Formerly it
was not SO, as we shall see further on.
Almost concealing Thomas, and next to
him. is James the Elder, his arms stretched
out in amazement. Horror is written upon
to Andrew. Formerly his left hand was
not raised, but laid upon the table, and COW
cred perspectivefy- the greater part of the
left hand Of Thomas, which was also placed
upon the table.
The Apostle Philip, in blue coat and red
mantle, is the third figure of this smaller
group He has risen and turns toward the
Lord, protesting in his love, I" Lord it is not
L. Thou knowest it. Thou knOwest my
heart: it is not l." ga lovely countenance,"
says Goethe, "like Raphael's group of
young men gathered around Bramanti, las
Archimedes,) on the left hand side, (the
spectators right,) in the school OF Athens"
~The second smauef group Oh Inls sue
begins with Matthew. He is repeating what
Christ has said, to Thaddeus and Simon,
the two Apostles further from him, pointing
to our Lord with both of his outstretched
arms and hands, as if to assure them, 1He
said So" By this gesture this second smaller
group is beautifully connected with the
other and with the WHOLE. Matthew is
young, and of guileless nature. His mouth
partly open, has an anxious expression; and
the teeth, partly disclosed, show degree OF
indignation in keeping with the passionate
movement of the figure. Next to him sits
Thaddeus, with a brown under garment
and grass green mantle, looking toward
Simon, while his hands rather point toward
Christ. The attitude is peculiar, and to my
ture. The left hand lies upon the table in
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