Tag Archives: history

Dinner with Jesus, 2

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I found this title jotted in my drafts, and it has inspired a second post.

Occasionally I see humorous comments about the famous paintings of the Last Supper in which Our Lord and the Apostles are seated together at a long table, with everyone facing front. This seems so strange to the modern viewer that it inspires jokes. But it’s actually quite a common way of seating people, besides being simply a useful artistic form.

Here’s Mr. da Vinci’s famous version:

There are plenty of depictions with the group seated around a table on all sides, too. For example:

or:

or:

These may well be designed to fit within the illuminated letter, thus the careful arrangement of the table so that all the people can be seen despite the small space.

THAT said, there are real instances of people eating along one side of a table. This usually involves the food being served from the center of the dining hall with the tables arranged in long rows on each side, or the orientation of the tables to allow the diners to watch some important feature (for instance an important person’s table at the front of a great hall, or the entertainment being provided in the center or front of the room or on a stage).

In Brazil young couples sometimes sit on the same side of the table at restaurants so they can whisper, cuddle, and people watch while eating.

Here are a couple of illustrations of refectories in monasteries where the monks are eating on the same side of the table, and service is from the free (center) side. This is still found in some monasteries today.

And one of a royal banquet:

Great Geeky Girls

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Here are some of my favorite geeky girls who have fun YouTube channels:

Sam van Fleet: This girl picks out wild mustangs, trains them from zero, and shows and sells them. When I was that age I don’t think I was doing anything useful. I love watching her attentive, careful training and listening to her thoughtful analysis of what’s going on with her horses. I used to have horses and did some training, so it’s a rabbit hole I’m thrilled to re-experience vicariously. Also impressive: Camille’s Mustangs. Really lovely to watch these young women working.

Karolina Żebrowska: Karolina has quirky interests mostly involving the history of clothing. She’s a funny story teller and I love watching her walk through her careful research on oddball subjects like “What would Snow White really have worn?” Since I do some sewing and embroidery (at a very basic level!) it’s inspiring to watch Karolina work with sewing projects, too.

Bernadette Banner: Another expert in historical costume, and also a great story-teller. My favorite so far is when she bought a Chinese knock-off of one of her own dresses to compare to the original. Her projects are always exotic and entertaining.

Nicola White: Apparently people in England go hunting for lost treasures in the tidal mud of the river Thames. This is somewhat gross, but also adventurous and rewarding. They find dead people, lost jewelry, strange artifacts…after all, the area has been inhabited for centuries, and the inhabitants have spent those centuries chucking stuff in the river… In any case, Nicola has a particular knack for story telling and her videos are intriguing and fun.

Musical Notation is Beautiful: The lovely woman who does this video series (Elba, if I caught her name correctly in the video?) gives fascinating accounts of different kinds of musical notation. If you like early music, calligraphy, medieval arts, or any related subject, check this out!

Caitlin Doughty: Widely known for her video series about death. Caitlin is a mortician and has all kinds of interesting stories to tell about modern and historic deaths, the biology of death, weird and interesting facts about dying and funerals. She’s also a good story teller and her videos are very engaging.

Speaking of death, I must add a fun watch, Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, FSP, who has written a book of religious meditations on death and appeared on several television programs and podcasts to talk about it. Sister Aletheia doesn’t have her own channel, but you can see several of the interviews here.