Vincent Van Gogh May Have Hidden ‘The Last Supper’ Within One Of His Most Famous Paintings

Vincent Van Gogh, most known for “Starry Night” and losing his left ear, may have left one final secret up his sleeve. His iconic painting “Cafe Terrace at Night” depicts a group of anonymous patrons enjoying an evening in Arles, France. Yet new research suggests that the individuals lurking in the group of 12 — with a central, long-haired figure, another departing in the shadows and golden lookers-on — may not be so nameless after all. Yes, it’s possible that one of van Gogh’s most famous artworks contains an allusion to an even more famous painting: Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”

A religious allusion wouldn’t be too out of character for Van Gogh. Before devoting his attention to painting, the famous Dutch artist had wished to “preach the gospel everywhere,” and his father, Theodorus van Gogh, was a pastor for a Dutch Reformed church. Vincent’s uncle was a renowned Dutch theologian and biblical scholar who helped his nephew in his endeavors to become a preacher, a pursuit at which he would fail multiple times.

Finally, at the age of 27 or 28, van Gogh began creating art in earnest, quickening the pace to complete nearly 900 works in the decade before his death in 1890. Of the hundreds of works, most people would likely recognize just a few. “Starry Night” certainly, but perhaps also the probable first attempt at a star-filled sky, “Cafe Terrace at Night.” But how much do we really know about the glorious depiction of evening diners?

Independent researcher Jared Baxter holds a few theories on van Gogh’s use of religious symbolism. In fact, he has embarked upon an academic lecture circuit in defense of them, most recently at the 2015 Dutch Association of Aesthetics. The evidence Baxter draws from, though speculative, is compelling enough to warrant consultation and letters of recommendation from numerous scholars and authors with a background in the study of van Gogh, such as William Kloss, a Smithsonian Journeys expert.

Baxter essentially believes that van Gogh subtly inserted da Vinci’s “Last Supper” — or at least the “genre” of Last Supper paintings, which often had different compositions of diners and Judas departing — into “Cafe Terrace at Night.” What follows here is the crux of Baxter’s argument, as explained to The Huffington Post, so be prepared to get sucked down a Dan Brown-esque rabbit hole.

Van Gogh included potentially religious elements after the original sketch of “Cafe Terrace at Night.”

Around the time of working on “Cafe Terrace at Night,” van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo van Gogh, explaining that he had a “tremendous need for, shall I say the word — for religion,” with direct reference to the painting. In his first sketch of the work (above right), van Gogh essentially outlined a cafe terrace at night, but the finished work (above left) has some alterations.

In the final work, a shadowy figure can be seen leaving through the doorway. Still others, golden-hued, watch the group of a dozen from the corner. Van Gogh’s trademark yellow lends itself to the heavenly appearance of the scene, and the lantern above the central figure serves as a halo. The awning is drawn back across the terrace to reveal a cross in the distance.

Multiple crosses appear in the painting, a subtle symbolism experienced before by van Gogh.

Van Gogh’s friend and fellow artist, Émile Bernard, shared “A Woman Washing Herself” with van Gogh, a painting that uses a window to give the perception that the subject is bearing a cross. To his brother, van Gogh described it as “Rembrandtesque,” alluding to the painter’s notorious use of religious symbolism.