[Illustration:  THE LAST SUPPER.
        L. da Vinci.]

Before going any farther we must point out a great expedient, by means of which Leonardo principally animated this picture:  it is the motion of the hands; only an Italian would have discovered this.  With his nation the whole body is expressive, all the limbs take part in describing an emotion, not only passion but also thought.  By various gestures he can express:  “What do I care?”—­“Come here!”—­“This is a rascal, beware of him!” “He shall not live long!” “This is a main point.  Take heed of this, my hearers!” To such a national trait, Leonardo, who observed every characteristic with the greatest attention, must have turned his searching eye; in this the present picture is unique and one cannot observe it too much.  The expression of every face and every gesture is in perfect harmony, and yet a single glance can take in the unity and the contrast of the limbs rendered so admirably.

The figures on both sides of our Lord may be considered in groups of three, and each group may be regarded as a unit, placed in relation and still held in connection with its neighbours.  On Christ’s immediate right are John, Judas, and Peter.

Peter, the farthest, on hearing the words of our Lord, rises suddenly, in conformity with his vehement character, behind Judas, who, looking up with terrified countenance, leans over the table, tightly clutching the purse with his right hand, whilst with the left he makes an involuntary nervous motion as if to say:  “What may this mean?  What is to happen?” Peter, meanwhile, with his left hand has seized the right shoulder of John, who is bending towards him, and points to Christ, at the same time urging the beloved disciple to ask:  “Who is the traitor?” He accidentally touches Judas’s side with the handle of a knife held in his right hand, which occasions the terrified forward movement upsetting the salt-cellar, so happily brought out.  This group may be considered as the one first thought of by the artist; it is the most perfect.

While now on the right hand of the Lord a certain degree of emotion seems to threaten immediate revenge, on the left, the liveliest horror and detestation of the treachery manifest themselves.  James the Elder starts back in terror, and with outspread arms gazes transfixed with bowed head, like one who imagines that he already beholds with his eyes what his ears have heard.  Thomas appears behind his shoulder, and approaching the Saviour raises the forefinger of his right hand to his forehead.  Philip, the third of this group, rounds it off in the most pleasing manner; he has risen, he bends forward towards the Master, lays his hands upon his breast, and says with the greatest clearness:  “It is not I, Lord, Thou knowest it!  Thou knowest my pure heart, it is not I.”