The Painting “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci
Introduction
Leonardo da Vinci is the renowned Italian painter, engineer, and architect who painted “The Last Supper” between 1495 and 1498. Santa Maria delle Grazie, an Italian church, currently contains artwork illustrating Jesus’s final meals with the apostles before his crucifixion. The painting is remarkable due to its history, the artist that painted it, its context, and the elements applied during the making. In this paper, “The Last Supper” will be examined concerning the artist’s portrayal of the ambiguity of human emotions, which can be observed in many of his most famous paintings.
Artist Biography
Leonardo da Vinci was born in Florence, Italy, on April 15, 1452. His artistic talent was discovered early on. According to researchers, he initiated his apprenticeship when he was 14 and reached artistic maturity by the age of 20 (Tyler, 2021). This was determined through the fact that the artist registered for a painter’s guild in 1472. The experience that allowed him to perfect his skill was his work with Andrea del Verrocchio, a well-recognized painter in the area. Despite his knowledge of traditional art, da Vinci was innovative in his approach and selected oil paintings as his specialty instead of the previously used tempera. Even though the artist was in close cooperation with the previously mentioned mentor, he received an independent order for an altarpiece in 1476, which was the beginning of da Vinci’s autonomy (Hawkins, 2018). While the artist took multiple commissions, he did not finish them when working for the ruler of Milan, Sforza. Sforza was one of the main reasons the painter took on the church renovation projects in which “The Last Supper” was painted. When working in Milan, Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint some of his main pieces, such as the Virgin of the Rocks. However, the artist returned to Florence in 1503, which is also when he started working on his main piece, the Mona Lisa. Da Vinci died several years later, in 1519, leaving behind a legacy consisting of works of art and inventions that are still highly regarded as exceptional.
Style
“The Last Supper” is exceptional regarding the symmetry highlighted in the painting, the colors used by the artist, and the elements encompassed in the art piece. As a Renaissance painting, the composition encompasses style elements present in various pieces at the time, such as realistic human figures, dynamism, and a religious subcontext (Artincontext, 2022). The contrast was generated through the use of color, and emotive qualities were prominent. For example, da Vinci chose to depict the moment in which Jesus reflects on his knowledge that one of the apostles will betray him, which is why the emotional context highlighted in the movement of the hands and facial expressions illustrates realistic body language. Moreover, the religious context is another stylistic choice that was prominent during the art during the Renaissance period. Nonetheless, the Biblical scene is not portrayed in a manner resembling art during the Medieval age. Instead, Leonardo da Vinci created a painting that allows individuals to connect to his portrayal of the last supper by adding an emotional and humanistic context to the biblical scene. The background of the painting, namely, the idea that it reflects on Jesus’s final meal before crucifixion when he talks about being betrayed, generates a connection between a person admiring the painting and its history and relation to religion.
Description
“The Last Supper” is a mural painting made with tempera. Specifically, it was made with oil paints and tempera, which makes it a painting rather than a fresco (Taddei, 2018). It is a representational piece illustrating Jesus in the middle of the table with the apostles on both sides. One of the elements of the work is the parallel lines which create a focal point, namely, Jesus. Jesus’s eyes catch the attention before the eye movement directs the focus on the apostles, who take a secondary role when observing the painting (Kourniatis & Architect, 2019). The repetition of the lines, as well as the relative resemblance between the apostles, generates a sense of the importance of the central figure. The expressive language that can be applied to “The Last Supper” is refined as the attention to detail, as well as the facial expression of the figures, is remarkable. Moreover, the content of the painting can be interpreted through the metaphorical exemplification of feelings through human gestures, which is how the artist highlighted the overall background of the art piece. As mentioned previously, facial expressions were largely implied in art during the Renaissance period through humanism and realism, another example being Mona Lisa and her renowned and mysterious smile. Moreover, the work relates to the humanization of biblical figures, which can be difficult to achieve, especially due to the more strict and confined limits of Medieval art.
Conclusion
“The Last Supper” illustrates ambiguous emotions through the remarkable background behind the art piece. Leonardo da Vinci followed the elements correlating with Renaissance art and portrayed a realistic, dynamic, and humanistic biblical scene. The painting has remained an exemplary piece highlighting both the talent of the artist as well as the features of the art form at the time.
References
Artincontext. (2022). Early Renaissance – exploring the early Italian renaissance art period. Artincontext.org. Web.
Hawkins, R. (2018). Leonardo Da Vinci: A Biography of History’s Most Famous Polymath. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Kourniatis, N., & Architect, N. T. (2019). Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper: Reconstruction of the room using reverse geometric perspective processes. Journal of Applied Mathematics and Physics, 07(09), 1941–1957. Web.
Taddei, D. M. (2018). Digital restoration of the last supper by Leonardo da Vinci and multimedia tools to experience edutainment. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 364, 012034. Web.
Tyler, W. C. (2021). Sources of inspiration in the early life of Leonardo da Vinci. Journal of Research in Philosophy and History, 4(3). Web.