"The Last Supper"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Leonardo's "The Last Supper" exhibits all of the classical elements of Western art and those of the High Renaissance. It looks at how the three major trends of 15th century painting, being monumentality and mathematically ordered space at the expense of movement and the freedom of movement at the expense of monumentality and controlled space, are all harmonized and balanced in "The Last Supper" which stands as the penultimate example of Leonardo da Vinci's long career as a painter and artisan. In addition, the paper discusses and describes the iconography and color scheme of the painting.

From the Paper:

"As an artistic rendering, Leonardo's The Last Supper displays an iconography unlike anything else in Western art. In biblical terms, the Last Supper was a rather emotional occasion, due to the apostles being shocked to hear Jesus tell them that one of them would betray him to the Roman authorities. For Leonardo, this emotionally-charged scenario presented him with the opportunity to portray in art "an explosive and dramatic scene and to delve more deeply than he had ever done before into the psychological makeup of his various characters" (Heydenreich, 87). This scenario also stands as a symbolic revelation wherein Jesus tells his disciples that bread symbolizes his physical body and wine symbolizes his blood, both being metaphors which illuminate Jesus' sacrifice of the cross and the remission of the sins of human beings. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brown, David Alan. Leonardo's Last Supper: The Restoration. New York: Phaedon Press, 1983.
• Heydenreich, Ludwig H. Leonardo: The Last Supper. New York: Viking Press, 2003.
• Ladwein, Michael. Leonardo da Vinci, the Last Supper: A Cosmic Drama and Act of Redemption. Berlin: Rudolf Steiner Publishing, 2006.
• "Leonardo's New, Brighter Last Supper Unveiled After Restoration." May 27, 1999. Internet. Retrieved May 21, 2008 from http://www.chron.com/cgi-bin/auth/story.mpl/content/chronicle/ae/art/9798////leonardo.0-0.html.
• Zani, Vito. Leonardo da Vinci: The Last Supper. Rome: Rizzoli International Publications, 2003.

More papers on "The Last Supper":

• Comparison Essay # 127243 : "Leonardo's and Bouts' "The Last Supper"
• Analytical Essay # 135195 : "Warhol's "The Last Supper" Paintings"
• Essay # 34203 : " Leonardo's "The Last Supper"

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