Who is holding the knife?
Is the hand holding a knife in Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper "disembodied"? Does the hand belong to Peter or anyone else at the table? Comparing an earlier
study by Leonardo with his final painting reveals his true intent:
Leonardo, Study for the right arm of Peter. Windsor Castle, Royal Collection (no. 12546)
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Leonardo, Last Supper, detail
of the right arm of Peter.
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As you can see, Da Vinci modeled the hand at
a right angle from his wrist. It is easy to mistake the hand as "disembodied"
because of the absence of paint at the wrist. The missing detail tricks the
eye into seeing the hand coming straight out from behind Judas. Below is an
overlay of the two images:
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