Glass replica of 'The Last Supper' survives soup kitchen fire
The staff of a New Hampshire soup kitchen was amazed and hopeful after a piece of artwork survived a fire that destroyed the facility.
Last week, a fire tore through the St. Vincent de Paul Society on Hampton.
While combing through the charred building the next day, society president Paul Nicholson was stunned to find something that hadn’t been destroyed.
“I looked inside and I could see the outline on the back wall of something hanging there,” Nicholson said. “And, lo and behold, I found this picture hanging on the back wall, still there, but it was totally clean. It was just as if nothing had happened at all.”
The picture was a replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” – a depiction of the Seder dinner Jesus shared with his disciples the night before his crucifixion – painted on glass.
For years, the painting has hung on the wall of the soup kitchen, where 30 to 50 people are served meals each day.
“It's been gazing down on our clients having dinner every night,” Nicholson said. “I did see it as a sign that says, ‘Get another kitchen open soon.’”
The prayers of the staff to start operating again were quickly answered: The Hampton Fire Department volunteered to house a temporary soup kitchen just a few blocks down the road.
“And I just keep saying, ‘Thank you! Thank you!’” said soup kitchen coordinator Lisa Parker, who is counting her blessings that volunteers can still serve meals in the firehouse through the end of the season in May.
The search is on for a permanent place to break bread together when the soup kitchen reopens in October.
Parker said the painting pulled from the ashes gives her hope.
“It definitely is a message that it's not going to be our last supper, and that's going to be in a new home,” she said. “I see it as a little miracle.”