The Last Supper by Leonardo Davinci

The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci The renaissance marked a point in time in which it was the most advanced society had ever been. The renaissance sparked a revolution in art. Artwork became more realistic. Although religious topics continued to be a dominant subject matter, artists used linear perspective, greater facial expressions, and three-dimensional techniques to make paintings more realistic. The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci, created during the Renaissance, exhibits many of those values from that period, including the portrayal of religious subjects and the use of a realistic style and perspective. Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452 in Vinci, Italy (“Louvre”). Leonardo’s father was 25 and his name was San Piero and his mother was a peasant named Caterina. After Leonardo’s birth, his father took custody and his mother went on and married someone else. Leonardo had ended up with a total of 17 half brothers and sisters (“Leonardo Da Vinci Paintings“). He had access to many scholarly texts while growing up. He also grew up amidst Vinci’s long tradition of art (“Renaissance”). At the age of 15, Leonardo became an apprentice at Andrea del Verrochio in Florence. Even though he was an apprentice, he was better than his master. In 1477, he left his apprenticeship and opened his own shop(“Renaissance”). Looking to make some money, he entered the service of the Duke Ludovico Sforza and duchess Beatrice d’Este of Milan in 1482. He spent 17 years in their service, painting, sculpting, and designing weapons, buildings, and machinery. During those years his artistic and scientific achievements peaked. While in the service of the Duke and the Duchess, he studied nature, aviation, mathematics, and engineering, including designing the churches and fortresses. He also designed weapons, including tanks and submarines. In addition, he studied anatomy, producing many sketches of the human form. He was interested in so many things, that he usually didn’t finish what he started. One exception to this is The Last Supper (“Renaissance“). In 1495, the Duke commissioned him to paint The Last Supper (“Lenardo Da Vinci‘s Life”). The painting is fairly big, measuring about 15x29 ft. It is a mural, which means it was painted directly on a wall. This mural was painted on a dining hall in a monastery in Milan, Italy (“Louvre“). He drew upon his skills as an inventor and decided to paint it on a dry wall rather than on wet plaster. This means that the painting is not a true fresco. A fresco requires the artist to work on the painting continuously until it is done. He instead used gesso to seal the wall to give him more time to work on the project and not have to do so continuously. He preserved the painting with tempera, but his method did not work well. The painting began deteriorating soon after it was completed (“Louvre“). The painting, which took Leonardo three years to complete, represents the scene of Jesus’ last supper with his apostles as described in the Bible. At the supper, he told his apostles that one of them would betray him. The faces of the individuals in the painting exhibit their realistic emotions in response to this announcement. Each of the apostles react differently. Some were surprised and some look upset. The first group on the left consists of Bartholomew, James and Andrew. They are all surprised. The next group includes Judas, Simon, and John. In one hand Judas is holding the bag of silver that he received for betraying Jesus and in his other hand, he is reaching for a piece of bread which represents Christ’s body in the Bible. In the Bible Jesus said that the first man to share bread with him would betray him. Simon is holding a knife which foreshadows the incident when he chopped of a man’s ear defending Jesus. John the one that look’s like a women, appears to be fainting. The third group is made up of Thomas, James, and Phillip who all appear shocked. The fourth group consists of Matthew, Jude, and Simon who seem to be discussing the matter. The Last Supper uses perspective for a three-dimensional effect. Leonardo used one point perspective. This perspective involves all parallel lines converging in one place called the vanishing point. This method makes the picture proportional and places emphasis on the object at the vanishing point(Rivas 2). Jesus’ face is at the center of the vanishing point representing his importance. Additionally, the painting uses balance, grouping the apostles in four equal groups of three with Jesus in the middle. There were also three windows. Three represents the holy trinity (“Leonardo Da Vinci‘s Life“). Leonardo’s representation of The Last Supper differed from earlier portrayals of the meal in a number of ways. Earlier depictions did not include Judas in the group. He was always off to the side. In Leonardo’s version, he is including in the group, but placed in a shadow. Earlier paintings also put halos around the apostles heads, but Leonardo chose to make it more realistic and left the halos off. Finally, the perspective of Leonardo’s version improved on the odd looking perspectives used in earlier paintings such as the painting by Duccio in which it looks as if the table is on its side. Leonardo’s The Last Supper is a good example of a Renaissance piece of art because it shows many Renaissance values like portrayal of religious subjects and the use of a realistic style and perspective. The painting is three-dimensional and the figures show realistic emotions. All the subtle secrets you can see in the painting are very fascinating. The Renaissance has been one of the most interesting and smartest times in mankind.