Wooden Sculpture of the Last Supper - Is It Just Another Religious Statue?
Exactly what and where is it?
The Zappia sculpture is a 17-foot long wooden life-size recreation of the
last supper, based on Leonardo da Vinci's fresco in Milan, Italy. Its 13
figures (Christ and his 12 disciples) were each carved from a 500-lb block of
laminated basswood. Finished, each figure weighs at least 200-pounds. The
supper's table, its cloth covering and settings are also made from basswood.
This sculpture is located in a special viewing room in the Country Club
Christian Church, 6101 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, MO, where it can be viewed by
visitors during weekday business hours and on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Its
viewing room has glass-enclosed humidity, temperature, and lighting controls
together with bench seating and a recorded message. A tour guide is available for
groups of 12 or more.
Who sculpted it?
According to the churches' published literature, Domenic Zappia came to the
United States from Italy in the early 1900s when he was four years old. At 17,
his stepfather enrolled him at the Cleveland School of Art. He graduated from
there with honours.
After much success in other parts of the U.S., he came to Kansas City in
1926 to do ornamental artwork in a large theatre and other places there. In
1958, he was commissioned to do this large Last Supper sculpture for a proposed
cemetery chapel in Charleston, WV. He completed it in 1962. However, the
cemetery chapel was never finished. The sculpture then went on loan for several
years.
History (it travelled a lot).
After being viewed by 70,000 people locally in 1962, the sculpture was
stored for shipment to the World's Fair in New York City in 1964 where it
remained for one year. After that, it went to the Kennedy International Airport
until 1972. During that interim, two Kansas City civic leaders funded their above
church to purchase the sculpture from its WV owner in 1971. At that time,
however, they had no suitable place to keep it. So, it went on display at
select fund-raising events, and in museums, chapels, a big church, and a college
before coming to its current home in 2000.
Artistic significance.
Zappia studied the Christian Bible regularly. He felt he knew the disciples
well. Thus, he had his own ideas on how to make their features. His work is not
a mere copy of the da Vinci fresco. However, its figures are placed on the
table in the same way. Viewed from the left, are Bartholomew, James the
Lesser, Andrew, Judas, Peter, John, Jesus, Thomas, James the Greater, Philip,
Thaddaeus, Matthew, and Simon.
Zappia was happy the whole time while doing this work. He felt inspired
many times during the four years he worked on it. Also, his long-time ulcer
ailment did not bother him during this period. Additionally, he finished the
sculpture without chipping errors or self-injury, and without having to redo
any of the figures with a fresh block of basswood.
Furthermore, the basswood itself gives a visual impact to its viewers.
Basswood is a fine-grained, fibrous, golden hardwood from linden trees. It does
not splinter easily. Thus, its bright appearance viewed under the soft lighting
combined with the artist's detailed, smooth, and ingenious sculpting of the
figure's hands, clothing, and facial and human features leaves the viewers in a
state of awe.
Conclusion. To answer the initial question, hardly. Because only a few life-size
sculptures of the last supper exist, this one stands out through its lifelike
imagery. Also, like other artists having divine intuition, Zappia was truly
inspired by this work. For more information on wood sculpting,