iScrapbook

Giovanni Mario Pala claimed that Leonard Da Vinci has encoded some musical notes in his famous ‘Last Supper’ painting. This is the latest code to be revealed from Da Vinci’s masterpiece made famous by Dan Brown’s  ‘The Da Vinci’s Code’.

How did Pala discover the encoded mysterious musical notes? In his book “La Musica Celata” which means “The Hidden Music” reveals that Pala drew 5 lines of musical staff across the  ‘Last Supper’ painting and used the loaves of bread and hands of Jesus and his Apostles as the musical notes. Yet, the notes made no sense musically until he read it from right to left, just like how Leonardo Da Vinci wrote.

Giovanni Mario Pala started investigating into ‘Last Supper’ since 2003 when he heard about possibility of musical composition is encoded into Da Vinci’s masterpiece. Da Vinci was not only an artist, sculptor and inventor; he also played the lyre and designed some musical instruments.

The ‘Last Supper’ is a mural painted in 15th century on the wall in Milan’s Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie by Leonardo Da Vinci. ‘Last Supper’ depicts the moments when Jesus had his last meal with his 12 Apostles before his arrest and crucifixion.

I was fortunate to have seen ‘Last Supper’ at Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. You need to purchase a ticket to gain entry to view the ‘Last Supper’. Please make your ticket reservation online prior to arrival else you need to wait for hours. I waited for 3 hours just to catch a 10 minutes view of the ‘Last Supper’. Only a few people are allowed to enter the church at any one time. Photography is allowed but no flash. Once you are ushered in, quickly take your pictures before you are ushered out again.

Security is even tighter than in an airport. I had to pass through at least 3 metal detectors before entering the church.

For the time spend waiting to see the ‘Last Supper’, I would say it’s truly worth it and I will do it again. But, this time, I will book my ticket in advance.