The Last Supper: The Renaissance’s Finest Marvel
Leonardo Da Vinci‘s The Last Supper is a sophisticated portrayal of this renowned biblical theme and one of the Renaissance‘s finest masterpieces by one of its greatest artists. Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper,” a massive picture 4.60 meters high and 8.80 meters wide, was created with tempera and oil on gypsum instead of the fresco technique. It is one of the most popular works of art in the world, painted by Leonardo da Vinci for the Dominican monastery Santa Maria Delle Grazie in Milan between 1495 and 1498. It illustrates the dramatic scenario described in several closely connected Gospel texts.
According to Leonardo’s concept that stance, action, and expression should reflect “understandings of the mind,” each of the 12 disciples interacts in a way that Leonardo thinks is appropriate for that man’s personality. The result is a detailed exploration of several human emotions presented in a seemingly simple arrangement. The Last Supper was a recurring feature for the dining hall walls of monasteries and convents in 15th-century Italy, where nuns and monks could dine their meals while witnessing Jesus’ final meal. Leonardo’s depiction is well-organized, with Jesus in the center of a large table and the Apostles to his left and right.
The use of linear perspective, combined with ornamental shapes such as the sphinxes on the ends of the bench and the marble paneling, tends to distract from the event’s spirituality. Leonardo, on the other hand, reduced the design by removing unnecessary and distracting features so that the design could instead enhance spirituality. The window and arching pediment even give the impression of a halo. Leonardo employs the table as a barrier to distinguish the spiritual realm from the viewer’s earthly reality by cramming all the figures together. Despite popular belief, Leonardo’s emphasis on spirituality culminates in a more lifelike painting than Castagno’s.
An equilateral triangle formed by Christ’s body maintains a balanced composition. He sits beneath an arching portico that, when completed, will form a circle. These ideal geometric forms refer to the Renaissance obsession with Neo-Platonism. Leonardo employed geometry, which the Greeks used to convey heavenly perfection, to glorify Christ as the embodiment of heaven on earth. Beyond the windows, Leonardo created a magnificent landscape. It has been suggested that this divine sanctuary, sometimes regarded as paradise, can only be attained via Christ.
History:
During Leonardo’s first extended stay in Milan, the duke of Milan and Leonardo’s patron, Ludovico Sforza, commissioned the wall painting. Leonardo most likely began work on the painting in 1495 and worked slowly, with long interruptions between sessions, until he completed it in 1498. True fresco painting was not ideal for Leonardo since the procedure demands an artist to add paint rapidly to each day’s fresh plaster before the plaster sets and attaches the color to the wall. Instead, Leonardo experimented with tempera or oil paint on two layers of dry preparatory ground.
With Jesus in the middle, his turned right cheek serves as the vanishing point for the composition’s perspective lines, while his hands trace the golden ratio lines at the composition’s midpoint. His gaze leads the viewer’s focus to a loaf of bread, pointing to his prediction that the apostle who would betray him would grab food at the same time as him. Judas can be seen to his right reaching for a loaf of bread, distracted by his astonishment at Jesus’ awareness of his plot.
Damage and Restoration: | The Last Supper
The painting suffered significant deterioration throughout the ages. Several restorations followed, with heavy-handed retouching and the use of varnish, glue, solvents, and other chemicals. During World War II, an Allied bomb forced the ceiling and one wall of the dining hall to fall, causing the artwork to suffer its greatest disaster. The picture was saved, but it was left outside for several months before the area was repaired.
After centuries of neglect, the Last Supper underwent a prolonged and difficult 20-year repair, which was completed in 1999. Restorers worked in small sections to remove prior touchups, layers of dust, and varnish coatings while adding beige watercolor to the parts that could not be recovered. When the restored picture was exhibited, numerous critics claimed that the restorers had erased so much of Leonardo’s original work that very little survived. Others, on the other hand, praised the recovery of details such as the Apostles’ expressions and the meal that was served.
Although some of Leonardo’s renowned artistic characteristics have been dropped, such as radiant color, soft modelling, and studied facial gestures, audiences can still recognize his skill in depicting a sequential storyline, his considered approach to creating an illusion of space, and his interest in representing human psychology in exclamation, expression, and gestures. Since the mural’s completion, when it was declared a masterpiece, it has won the praise of various artists
The art historian, Giorgio Vasari, described the composition in his book ‘Lives of the Artists’, stating: “Leonardo imagined, and has succeeded in expressing, the desire that has entered the minds of the apostles to know who is betraying their Master…So in the face of each one may be seen love, fear, indignation, or grief at not being able to understand the meaning of Christ; and this excites no less astonishment than the obstinate hatred and treachery to be seen in Judas.”
This painting has also inspired several replications, interpretations, conspiracy theories, and fictional works. The delicate condition of The Last Supper has not diminished its attraction; rather, it has become part of the artwork’s heritage.
Citation:
The Last Supper: The Greatest Masterpiece of the Renaissance. https://blog.singulart.com/en/2019/08/14/the-last-supper-the-greatest-masterpiece-of-the-renaissance/
