The last supper was supposed to be Jesus and the 12 disciples. Who is the woman in the portrait?
Answer
I know of no actual portraits of the Last Supper made at the time. Most paintings made hundreds of years later include only the twelve apostles and Jesus. If you are talking about Leonardo DaVinci’s painting, there is no woman in the picture. Even Leonardo’s notes list only the twelve and Jesus. The young man with long hair to the immediate right of Jesus is identified by the artist as John. If there is a woman in the picture then one of the twelve apostles, John, is missing.
There may have been more than thirteen people at the Last Supper. Since a number of women supported Jesus and the apostles financially (Luke 8:2-3) it is possible that some of those who were at the cross were also at the Last Supper. The gospel accounts only mention Jesus and the twelve, but there were probably women serving the meal, and possibly sitting in on parts of it. We don’t know for sure that there weren’t women there. We do know that Leonardo and others painted only the twelve apostles and Jesus there.