The Renaissance is still thought of as the rebirth of art. It is a scholarly accepted view that the Renaissance was one of  the great creative periods of progressive development. One of the masterpieces of the Renaissance was The Last Supper, a late 15th-century painting by Leonardo da Vinci and currently located in Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy. It is the most reproduced religious painting of all time. An extensively studied work by Art Historians, created during the Renaissance. The ‘Last Supper’ is a hot topic among the visual art historians. It might come as a surprise to many, but the event of Jesus (PBUH) making a special prayer for his disciples and in return gifted by God with heavenly food in mentioned in the Holy Quran in ‘Surah Maidah’ as well. As a matter of fact that is perhaps the core-focus of at-least the name of the Surah. This same event was depicted by Leonardo da Vinci in the ‘Last Supper.’ Da Vinci was an exceptionally talented intellectual who’s interests spanned invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and even cartography. To many scholars he was prime example of the ‘Universal Genius’, an individual of unquenchable curiosity and imagination. The scope and depth of his interest was unprecedented in recorded history, his mind and personality seem to be far beyond the conventional, in contrast with his work the individual himself was very mysterious and remote. Leonardo Da Vinci will always be remembered as one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived.

Further along I shall be discussing the scope of the painting with Quranic proofs. Al Maidah is the 5th Surah of the Holy Quran. It was revealed during Medinen Period and  was one of the last chapters of the Qur’an to be revealed to Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). The Surah consists of 120 verses, and is named from ‘The Table (verse 112) in which Jesus’s (P.B.U.H) disciples asked for food to be sent from heaven. In addition to several other topics, it contains rulings concerning daily life. Al Maidah means “The table spread with food” or “The Banquet”. This Surah of the Quran covers many themes for example the laws prescribed for food & drink. In addition to the importance of justice and avoidance of repeating the mistakes that people of the book ‘Ahlul Kitab’ had committed. The People of Bani Israel were blessed with many miracles one of them was ‘Al Maidah-The Banquet’ Moreover Surah Maidah covers a lot of rules regarding what is lawful since it also covers punishment for rebellion, disturbance of peace, drinking and gambling which are absolutely outlawed in Islam as mentioned. I’m sure a lot of other things there too that are beyond my current understanding of things, as I’m not a ‘Musaffir’ by profession, and Arabic is not my first language.

This might surprise many but the same event that fascinated artists during the Renaissance Period is mentioned in Quran quite clearly and specifically in Chapter 5 in verses 114. I shall be using the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, a highly influential scholar of the Shafi’i school as an example, he is considered today an expert on Quranic exegesis and jurisprudence.

[According to Tafsir Ibn Kathir]
Surah Ma`idah (5) Verse 114

Verse 114. Jesus son of Mary said, “O God, our Lord, send down for us a table from heaven, to be a festival for us, for the first of us, and the last of us, and a sign from You; and provide for us; You are the Best of providers.”

But why does this all matter to anyone? Why should anyone care? I think it matters because the similarities between different cultures and religions are very noticeable and quite pronounced when looked at from an intellectual perspective. However most people have a divisive mentality towards things and that is exactly why i wrote about this. In my experience, thinking about how different things relate to each other, and how distinct things can be understood from different perspectives helps humans gain a more complete understanding of reality. There are far more commonalities than differences among the people, as it’s proven by the example as i have stated. This is how I view the human condition.

Peace – Keep in touch 🙂