The Secret Supper
by Javier Sierra
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Book Summary Information
Author: Javier SierraTranslator: Alberto Manguel
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-03-21
ISBN: 0743287649
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Atria Books
Book Reviews of The Secret Supper
Book Review: A provocative, eye-opening, utterly fascinating novel
Summary: 5 Stars
Readers will not want to dismiss this novel out of hand as "yet another da Vinci book," for The Secret Supper is truly an entity unto itself, a well-written, incredibly provocative thriller of dazzling proportions. The product of three years of extensive research, The Secret Supper purports to solve an intriguing, centuries-old mystery, a mystery most of us had no idea even existed. Can it be that Leonardo da Vinci hid a secret, heretical message inside his celebrated painting of The Last Supper, an open secret that only those with eyes to see could identify as an anti-Roman Catholic missive in no less a holy place than the Dominican Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie?
I think most readers will be amazed to learn that they have never truly looked at this most familiar work of art. Certainly, as Sierra shows us, there are strange qualities if not outright anomalies in the painting. Why are there no halos above Christ and his disciples? Why do you see no representation of the Eucharistic bread or the Holy Grail? Why are two of the disciples looking the other way, seemingly ignoring Jesus' fateful revelation that He is to be betrayed by someone at that very table? And why, for goodness' sake, is Peter clutching a knife behind his back? Sierra soon leads us to additional oddities: the disciples bear the images of heretics, Judas Thaddeus is represented with Leonardo's own face, Simon's face is modeled on the Greek philosopher Plato, a knot on the tablecloth is indicative of Mary Magdalene. These are just a small sample of the issues Sierra raises about The Last Supper over the course of his incredible novel. And, just so you know, he does have answers awaiting you at the end of the novel, including the secret message and its significance as discovered by the author. You may or may not believe Sierra's conclusions about the painting and Leonardo himself, but, my goodness, it's more than worth your time and consideration. True or not, this certainly makes for one humdinger of a story, one that will completely captivate those with any interest in history, a good puzzle, and/or the history of Christianity (and, specifically, the Roman Catholic Church).
Set in 1497, during the final weeks of Leonardo's work on The Last Supper, The Secret Supper mixes historical characters with those of the author's own creation to reveal the mystery of the painting. The narrator is the fictional Friar Agostino Leyre, a Dominican Inquisitor sent to Milan for two purposes: to identify the anonymous insider who has been writing letters to Rome claiming that Leonardo's The Last Supper contains a secret message that brands him a heretic, and to discover what that hidden message actually is. The anonymous source, who calls himself the Soothsayer, has provided a seven-line puzzle that will identify him, and this is basically all that Leyre has to go on initially. During his stay at Santa Maria delle Grazie, he comes into contact with a variety of men, both inside and outside the Church, eventually including Leonardo himself, who provide him with tantalizing new clues about both subjects of his investigation. He also, of course, has the actual painting to study in its almost-completed state. Leyre's investigation eventually takes him places he would never have dreamed - but I won't go so far as to reveal any of those details. Suffice it to say that the sources of information Sierra draws upon in putting all of his historical pieces together are incredibly broad and exceedingly impressive (and, I should note, all of the ancient books referred to in the novel did actually exist). It makes for uncommonly powerful suspense as you join Friar Leyre in pursuit of the secret mystery at the heart of everything - Sierra calls this an "investigative novel," and so it truly is.
The Secret Supper is a bit more challenging than your typical novel. Those unfamiliar with the history of the Catholic Church may face a bit of a learning curve, as many of the key themes center on the symbolic rites and history of the Roman Catholic Church, and I'm sure non-Catholics will find some of the heretical notions addressed here less significant than those of the Catholic faith. In addition, the reader will doubtless encounter a number of historical figures they are completely unfamiliar with - but the author has provided a most helpful description of each of them at the back of the book. The one recommendation I do have for the reader is to have a reproduction of Leonardo's The Last Supper at your disposal, as you will surely want to refer to the complete painting on numerous occasions.
Summary of The Secret Supper
Milan, 1497: Leonardo da Vinci is completing his masterpiece, The Last Supper. Pope Alexander VI is determined to execute him after realizing that the painting contains clues to a baffling -- and blasphemous -- message, which he is determined to decode. The Holy Grail and the Eucharistic Bread are missing, there is no meat on the table and, shockingly, the apostles are portraits of well-known heretics -- none of them depicted with halos. And why has the artist painted himself into the scene with his back turned toward Jesus? The clues to Leonardo's greatest puzzle are right before your eyes....The Da Vinci juggernaut rolls on, this time in the capable hands of a bestselling author in the Spanish-speaking world. The Secret Supper has been ably translated by Alberto Manguel, author of A History of Reading, that delightful revelation that squiggles on a page are words, and words make stories. Set in 1497 Milan, at the time of the painting of the Cenacolo, or The Last Supper, in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Sierra has created a tale of religious fanaticism, betrayal, murder, Church politics, artistic chicanery and mystery to confound the reader.
Fra Agostino Leyre, a Papal Inquisitor, is sent to Milan to confirm--or not--the messages of the "Soothsayer," who alleges that Leonardo Da Vinci is a heretic and has hidden heretical messages in his painting of The Last Supper. Leonardo is a figure larger than life, literally. A blue-eyed, tall, handsome man, always dressed in white, he is surrounded by faithful students and friends who are his acolytes. His brilliant mind, ranging over a multitude of ideas, has gained him a reputation for "hiding heterodox ideas in paintings apparently pious."
What Father Agostino follows is a labyrinthine path through alliances and rivalries, differences of opinion about Leonardo and a discussion of the heresy of the Cathars. They are a fascinating sect, more extra-Christianity than Christian heretics. Their practices are based on a belief that certain deprivations--primarily food and sex--will purify and make them worthy. Sierra is a very fine guide, taking the reader through palaces and monasteries rife with intrigue and typical of the flowering of intellect that came after the Dark Ages. It is a time when "Suddenly, from one day to the next, Plato's Greece, Cleopatra's Egypt and even the extravagant curiosities of the Chinese Empire that Marco Polo discovered seemed to deserve greater praise than our own Scriptural stories." Dangerous for the incumbency.
A compelling case is made that Leonardo's heretical beliefs are there for all to see in The Last Supper, if only we know how to find them. Sierra gives us the key--and keeps the suspense going right up to the end of the book. It isn't necessary to believe any of it, or even care if it's true, to enjoy this pilgrimage through another time and place. --Valerie Ryan
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