An Italian tech firm is set to post a high-resolution scan of Leonardo da Vinci's mural The Last Supper online this weekend, about three months after an Italian man's announcement of mysterious findings within the image sparked renewed interest.
Computer analyst Slavisa Pesci shows a reproduction of Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper during a press conference in Milan on July 25. He claims to have discovered new figures by superimposing a reverse image on the original image.
(Luca Bruno/Associated Press)
This latest posting is being spearheaded by Slavisa Pesci, the computer analyst and amateur scholar who, in July, announced that when he superimposed the famous painting — Leonardo's depiction of Jesus's last meal with his disciples — with its mirror image, he had detected what appeared to be a woman holding a child next to the figure of Jesus and the transformation of two apostles into knights.
Though criticized by several art experts, his revelation sparked a massive online search for images of the 15th-century mural — known in Italy as Il Cenacolo — that ultimately crashed multiple websites related to the artist.
Conspiracy theorists pointed out the similarities between Pesci's findings and the theory popularized by author Dan Brown in his bestseller The Da Vinci Code.
(Tim Boyd/Associated Press)
Conspiracy theorists were sent into a tizzy, noting that Pesci's findings had similarities to a theory popularized by U.S. author Dan Brown's bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code. The blockbuster title, which also spawned a popular movie, purports that the Catholic Church hid the fact that Jesus married his follower Mary Magdalene, fathered a child and has a bloodline living into modern times.
Italian imaging firm Hal9000 — named after the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey — will post the image on its website on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET).
The firm's general manager, Vincenzo Mirarchi, told Reuters that he expected a few million visitors would check out the image, the original of which draws thousands of tourists to the Santa Maria delle Grazie church and convent in Milan.
Mirarchi added that his firm is participating so as to extend the artwork's reach and not because he wants to further controversial theories about the famous mural.
"This will make it easier for people to see it," he told Reuters.
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