It's hard to put faith in science when this is what it's being used for.

[uberreiniger]

Our battle with obesity goes back a long time, apparently because paintings of the Last Supper show a lot of food.

I have to agree with the Duke University psychologist who observes that this is "not meaningful science."

Comments

[lordhellebore]

*sigh* I mean, it's interesting, yes, but it doesn't really have anything meaningful to add to the whole obesity and supersizing debate.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Obviously we can learn a lot about peoples' eating habits from studying the art of an era. But this looks like they already have their conclusion about obesity in history and are trying to make data (and not very reliable data, given that it's paintings of a religious subject where artistic license is liable to run rampant,) fit their preconceived conclusions. That's not good science.

[punkyami-chan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I started reading the article and then stopped because it made me so mad. It's art for crying out loud. That particular painting was painted well after the last supper so Leonardo DaVinci may have tweaked the events just a bit to prove some artistic point he was making. He was, after all, known for making statements. I'm sure the food has some meaning, but I doubt it's anything regarding the obesity problem.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Could have been something as simple as "Hmm... Too much negative space in the table area. Maybe I'll paint more food."

[batchix.livejournal.com]

if they were eating mcdonalds, i'd be worried. but seriously... other than an interesting development IT MEANS NOTHING.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

I would have liked to see the grant proposal for that study, that's for sure.

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

Please explain why "fish, eel, and even pork" is on a Passover seder table?

Lamb is correct, but honestly, this picture had nothing to do with what Jesus ate. Seriously.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Probably for the same reason there's so many paintings of the Passion that depict Roman soldiers in medieval - renaissance era regalia. Because your average artist living in Church-controlled post-Dark Ages Europe didn't have access to reliable information on what life 15 centuries before was really like.

[solandra.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha HAM in the Last Supper! Now I want a poster of Jesus eating shrimp for some reason.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Well God did spread the message through Peter that people can now eat whatever they want. (Acts 10:9-16)