What object lies overturned in front of Judas on the table?

An overturned salt cellar lies in front of Judas on the table in Leonardo da Vinci’s *The Last Supper*.

Judas is shown reaching toward the food while clutching the money bag linked with his betrayal. In the movement of that arm, he appears to knock over the small salt container. The detail is easy to miss because it sits low on the table and is partly obscured by the surrounding figures and dishes.

Spilled salt carried negative associations in European culture, including ideas of misfortune, loss, or broken trust. In this painting, the overturned salt cellar works alongside Judas’s purse, his backward-leaning posture, and the shadow around him to mark his treacherous role without separating him from the group.

The object is often confused with a cup, plate, or piece of bread because Leonardo included several table vessels and foods. The salt cellar is specifically the small container tipped over near Judas, not the larger serving dishes distributed along the table. The scene presents the apostles reacting to Jesus’s announcement that one of them will betray him.