Holy Grail Found in Da Vinci’s Last Supper
Status: True (in my opinion)
Here's a bit of a mystery. I received an email from someone called Prastil who wrote, "Check this hoax out: DaVinciGrail.com." The site he directed me to claims that the holy grail has finally been discovered in Da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper. For centuries people have wondered why Da Vinci omitted the grail from his painting, given that the grail is one of the central elements of the Last Supper story. Its absence has spawned a variety of theories, such as the one elaborated in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, that the holy grail was Mary Magdalene's uterus (and that the figure to the left of Jesus in the painting is Mary Magdalene). But DaVinciGrail.com claims that Da Vinci actually did include the grail in his painting, if you look hard enough. He concealed it as a symbol on the wall above the head of St. Bartholomew, the disciple at the extreme left. (I highlighted the cup in the image below).It may seem a bit farfetched that after centuries someone discovered a detail in the Last Supper that no one had ever seen before, but as far as I can tell, that's the case. The man who noticed the grail in the painting was Gary Phillips, a Michigan computer programmer (and cryptologist). He was aided in his discovery by the fact that the painting was recently cleaned, revealing details previously concealed by dirt and grime. Of course, Phillips could be seeing a shape that was not intentionally placed there by Da Vinci, but once you see the cup, it seems so obvious that it's hard to believe it wasn't placed there on purpose. The legitimacy of Phillips's claim to have discovered this hidden detail is noted on a number of sites, such as About.com's Art History blog.
Now here's where things get strange. Phillips has nothing to do with DaVinciGrail.com. Instead, Phillips maintains a separate site called Realm of Twelve. DaVinciGrail.com is registered to (drumroll, please) Prastil, the same guy who emailed me telling me that the site was a hoax. Why did Prastil claim his site was a hoax? Was he trying to get me to write about his site, not thinking that I would check the domain registration? I have no idea (and I wrote about it anyway). But Phillips's discovery of the grail hidden as a symbol on the wall in The Last Supper seems real enough to me... unless there's some part of the story that I'm not clued in to. (Very possible.)
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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I honestly do believe that this is truly an exciting time. in that perhaps NOW is the time that was meant to be when people would notice the art. how smart were the masters indeed to not only be able to sneak the important messages through time so that the future would be able to see it because if it were written in books it would have been destroyed along with alot of knowledge from the past that was so rudely taken from us but the really wonderful part is that it has been right in front of their faces for centurys hidden in the religious art. it. The art is speaking to us folks. its why i wrote sound travels through time and time travel through sound ,its because. we are hearing the art. how fantastic to hear the light in a starry night. vangoghs that is . you see leonardo did create a time machine and it is the art.if we listen perhaps it will tell us something we dont know. personaly I think alot of the ancient art is awakining all over the world. at exactly the time it was suppost to . there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to take that away this time . it is the most beautiful exciting thing anyone can imagine . its called mans evolution. no one can stop it now not even the catholic church or george bush. catherine
Posted by catherine higgs in northern california on Sun Aug 27, 2006 at 05:49 PM
This is just a minor thing, but notice the disciple on which the grail is on, that particular disciple has very detailed hair, compared to most, it's quite possible that it was worked on more thoroughly and so after the painting started to disintegrate it just happened to form a the cup? ... a possibility
Posted by Rahul in Taiwan on Thu Nov 23, 2006 at 05:21 AM
In all this yackin about the supposed grail on the wall, I want to know how no one has seen that Peter is holding a cell phone!
Posted by KG in CT on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 04:49 AM
Is it just me, or has everyone failed to notice that the only person in this picture that looks like they are ready to go on a really bad trip is Peter? You remember Peter? The alleged first Pope? Judas may be left holding the bag, but Peter appears menacing. As for the disciple Jesus loved, she does appear rather feminine and round-bellied. But what is proven by Jesus' parenthood? I guess it just makes him human. Big shock. Maybe we should be trying to see men as trees, walking. Now there's a a grail story the size of say--a pyramid.
Posted by Deanna in Iowa on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 09:40 PM
hey on the linen tablecloth there is phone cords on both sides if you look close at jesusus left hand it looks like a glass phone reciever, and what are all those boxes all over the bottom of the tablecloth . they look like phone jacks to me.phone cords and recievers and jacks on linen which is what made me think linen is a fiber and fiber optics is a phone line add a n to line and you get linen, oh no telephone poles are big crosses. i gotta go
Posted by catherine higgs in northern california on Sun Jan 21, 2007 at 11:50 PM
i found the holy grail its in antarctica
Posted by catherine higgs in northern california on Sat Mar 31, 2007 at 06:57 PM
I am not a "Code" fan. But this is really weird. Someone is saying that if you mirror the painting image and supermimpose it that you can see a knight, a baby, and other images. I instead found what appears to be a headless knight and a demonic figure with two horns rising out of the headless knight. There is also a chalice in the center on the table.
Posted by bill in Philly on Sat Jul 28, 2007 at 06:44 AM
well i didnt physically find it. if you look at antarctica on google earth, you will see it too.and youll see something else if anyone sees this could you please reply just look at the whole continent as your looking through the ice. thanks catherine
Posted by catherine higgs in northern california on Sun Jul 29, 2007 at 09:40 AM
Although I am not one to being easily sucked into silly hoaxes or conspiracy theories...I do admire the life and the work of Leonardo Da Vinci. He was a mathamatical genius..which is profoundly found in all his works of art. He was also someone that was admonished by the church for various works he created, could very well have had an ax to grind..and could be a prankster himself, to say the least. When I first saw the "Chalice" above St. Bartholomew...I looked at that particular frame of the painting from a different view. What was missing in the painting was in plain view all along, as was this...here was the Chalice staring right at the person in plain view..not hidden at all. But look carefully just above and BEHIND the chalice...and a very familiar face is also staring right back at the viewer. Da Vinci loved to incorperate little subtle nuances in his artwork..and this one was no exception.
Posted by Don in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Sun Jul 29, 2007 at 11:02 AM
that thing is so fake look at it in this link:
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ355/choi/images/rom37.jpg
Posted by Kasem Ahmed in New York on Mon Jul 30, 2007 at 05:13 PM
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ355/choi/images/rom37.jpg
Kasem Ahman...what is your point? I looked at your link...cased closed. It's there...and more. It's a painting within a painting.
Posted by Don in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 03:28 PM
Is it ever going to be possible to really know the true intentions of any long dead artist? The pattern pointed out is interesting though... It does seem to have a pattern to it... Interestingly, part of that pattern is a crescent shape which is an old symbol for the grail, but a crescent is a shape found in so many other obejects, so as I said before, how can we ever really know?
Posted by Mark in Toronto, Canada on Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 10:11 AM
It is possible to know the intentions of an artist who died so long ago, so long as the artist had the skill to preserve his or her complete story. Leonardo did more than paint religious art. He was a skilled scientist (specializing in mechanics and optics), physician, visual artist, mathemetician, and philosopher among other things. I'm not convinced (nor is it important at this stage) that Leonardo believed in the details of the alternate story he portrayed in The Last Supper, but we can be certain he wanted to provide a more complete perspective of Christianity than the church did at that time (and perhaps still does).
My point is that Leonardo was absolutely clever enough to give us *his* complete story. Let's keep in mind the size of this particular painting, and that Leonardo did not have computer imaging tools available to him to encode his story. He is truly genius, and I am greatful for what he has done.
My speculation is that the Peter symbol in the painting is nothing more than to direct the viewer to the symmetry of the ceiling. Once symmetry is realized, we need to ask why, and as noted recently the image folds onto itself. The grail no longer rests on St. Bartholomew -- it rests on the purported knight templar -- or at least a man fully furnished with armor. There is probably more to the story, not in this painting alone, but in a series of Leonardo's religious art (including Madonna of the Rocks, et al).
Posted by gary phillips in Michigan on Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 07:37 PM
My point is that Leonardo was absolutely clever enough to give us *his* complete story. Let's keep in mind the size of this particular painting, and that Leonardo did not have computer imaging tools available to him to encode his story. He is truly genius, and I am greatful for what he has done.
My speculation is that the Peter symbol in the painting is nothing more than to direct the viewer to the symmetry of the ceiling. Once symmetry is realized, we need to ask why, and as noted recently the image folds onto itself. The grail no longer rests on St. Bartholomew -- it rests on the purported knight templar -- or at least a man fully furnished with armor. There is probably more to the story, not in this painting alone, but in a series of Leonardo's religious art (including Madonna of the Rocks, et al).
Don there is no holy grail in the wall can u even see the wall do u even know which wall it is? there no grail in the wall if u really saw my link u could have seen it alright???
Posted by Kasem on Thu Aug 02, 2007 at 03:29 PM
Gary has a VERY valid point. Leonardo had problems with the "church" and DID incorporate HIS view of history in this painting. Many people need to get out of the "box" and READ history and what has been uncovered. Those that choose to be "Blinded" by the binders of what is now called the Bible will never understand the Jewish religion, culture or what they sought to accomplish. This includes Yeshua,and his brother James. And if you never knew that Jesus HAD a brother, and his brother was the head of the Church of Jerusalem until he was murdered...you need to educate yourself. Search out the Truth..and the Truth will set you free. At First you will be troubled, even angry...but then you can find peace.
Posted by Don in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Thu Aug 02, 2007 at 04:30 PM
Kasem...click on THIS link and you can see it clearly. Don http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Leonardo_da_Vinci_(1452-1519)_-_The_Last_Supper_(1495-1498).jpg
Posted by Don in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Fri Aug 03, 2007 at 02:38 PM
I'm sorry Kasem. That link won't work. Go to wickpedia and type in Leonardo Da Vinci. Scroll down to "The Last Supper" jpg.
Posted by Don in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Fri Aug 03, 2007 at 02:55 PM
The Last Supper is a wedding party. I have the proof for it. It is so simple! 
Posted by Paul Lunetta in San Francisco on Sat Aug 04, 2007 at 04:18 PM
ok paul wheres your proof of the wedding party
Posted by catherine higgs in northern california on Sun Aug 05, 2007 at 10:52 PM
How interesting here's the real mystery some people can't see the very obvious depiction of a woman sitting at Christ's right hand side yet can plainly see a chalice obscurely painted (if it was) in the wall of the background hmmm...very curious. 
Posted by Colleen in West on Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 09:50 PM
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