An Italian musician and computer technician, Giovanni Maria Pala , claims to have uncovered musical notes encoded in Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper,” raising the possibility that the Renaissance genius might have left behind a somber composition to accompany the scene depicted in the 15th-century wall painting.

“It sounds like a requiem,” Giovanni Maria Pala said. “It’s like a soundtrack that emphasizes the passion of Jesus.”

Painted from 1494 to 1498 in Milan’s Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the “Last Supper” vividly depicts a key moment in the Gospel narrative: Jesus’ last meal with the 12 Apostles before his arrest and crucifixion, and the shock of Christ’s followers as they learn that one of them is about to betray him.

Pala, a 45-year-old musician who lives near the southern Italian city of Lecce, began studying Leonardo’s painting in 2003, after hearing on a news program that researchers believed the artist and inventor had hidden a musical composition in the work.

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Pala, in his book “La Musica Celata” (”The Hidden Music”), also describes how he found what he says are other clues in the painting that reveal the slow rhythm of the composition and the duration of each note. The result is a 40-second “hymn to God” that Pala said sounds best on a pipe organ, the instrument most commonly used in Leonardo’s time for spiritual music.
[Fox News, Read more…]