Leonardo’s Last Supper
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The Last Supper , Leonardo da Vinci’s 1495–7 masterpiece, is a touchstone of Renaissance painting. Since the day it was finished, art students have journeyed to Milan to view the work, which takes up a refectory wall in a Dominican convent next to the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The 20th-century writer Aldous Huxley called it “the saddest work of art in the world”: he was referring not to the impact of the scene – the moment when Christ tells his disciples “one of you will betray me” – but to the fresco’s state of deterioration.
More on Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
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1. Groupings
Leonardo was at the time studying the effects of sound and physical waves. The groups of figures reflect the triangular Trinity concept (with Jesus at the centre) as well as the effect of a metaphysical shock wave, emanating out from Jesus and reflecting back from the walls as he reveals there is a traitor in their midst.
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2. “Halo” of Jesus
The medieval taste for halos is satisfied without sacrificing Renaissance realism: Christ is set in front of a window, giving him the requisite nimbus without looking as if he’s wearing a plate for a hat.
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3. Judas
Previously Judas was often painted across the table from everyone else. Leonardo’s approach is more subtle, and instead he places the traitor right among the other disciples.
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4. The Table
The table probably uses the same cloth and settings that the monks would have used, heightening the illusion that they were sharing their meals with Jesus and the Apostles.
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5. Perspective
The walls of the room in the painting appear to be continuations of the walls of the actual room you are standing in. The lines zoom in on Christ at the centre, drawing your eye towards his and helping to heighten the drama.
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6. Light
Note the brilliant effects of the carefully worked interaction between the three sources of light – from the refectory itself, from the windows painted in the background, and from the windows on the refectory’s left wall.
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7. Reflections
A detail that heightens the illusion of reality: the colours of the disciples’ robes are reflected in the glasses and pewter plates on the table.
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8. Coats of Arms Above Painting
The lunettes, which are situated above the fresco, were also painted by Leonardo. It seems that he was as happy painting the perfect leaves around the Sforza coats of arms as he was composing the vast scene below.
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9. Crucifixion on Opposite Wall
Most people spend so much time gazing at the Last Supper that they never notice the 1495 fresco by Donato Montorfano on the opposite wall, still rich with colour and vivid detail.
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10. Example of Ageing
Montorfano’s Crucifixion was painted in true buon fresco , but the now barely visible kneeling figures to the sides were added later on dry plaster – the same method Leonardo used.
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