Story 11
Surely you know about the famous painting 'The Last Supper', where Jesus dines with his twelve disciples?
When Leonardo Da Vinci was creating this picture, he encountered a serious problem: he had to depict Good--in the person of Jesus-and Evil--in the figure of Judas, the friend who resolved to betray him during the meal. He stopped work on the painting until he could find his ideal models.
One day, when he was listening to a choir, he saw in one of the boys the perfect image of Christ. He invited him to his studio and made sketches and studies of that face.
Five years went by. 'The Last Supper' was almost complete, but Leonardo had still not found the perfect model for Judas. The cardinal responsible for the church started to put pressure on him to finish his mural.
After spending many days vainly searching, the artist came across a prematurely aged youth, in rags and lying drunk in the gutter. With some difficulty, he persuaded his assistants to bring the fellow directly to the church, since there was no time left to make the preliminary sketches.
The beggar was taken there, not quite understanding what was going on. He was propped up by Leonardo's assistants, while Leonardo copied the lines of impeity, sin and egotism so clearly etched on his features.
When he had finished, the beggar, who had sobered up slightly, opened his eyes and saw the picture before him. With a mix of horror and sadness he said:
"I've seen that picture before!"
"What?" asked an astonished Leonardo.
"Five years ago, before I lost everything that I had, at a time when I used to sing in a choir and my life was full of dreams. An artist asked me to pose as the model for the face of Jesus."
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