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Ok class, I wanted to give you a quick overview of one of da Vinci's most famous paintings,
and that is the "Last Supper," which you are looking at right now. It might be helpful
to look at it in your textbook which is on pg. 347. da Vinci worked on this painting
from 195-1498, and many people consider this to be the pivotal painting in the transition
from the Early Renaissance to the High Renaissance and that has to do with the classical ideals
that we'll see as we look a little futher into this work.
When you first look at this painting you see a very active scene. There are 13 men and
this tells a story. It is the Christian New Testament story of Jesus and his 12 disciples
as they share a final meal before Jesus was crucified. And in particular, it has to do
with the verse from the Gospel of Matthew, Ch. 26 verse 21 in which Jesus says " One
of you is about to betray me." And in this case, the betrayer was the disciple Judas,
who gave away Jesus' identity for a prophet. Some of you may be familiar with that story,
some of you may not, but that is the short of it.
So you can see the disciples have just heard Jesus say "one of you is about to betray me"....how
are they reacting? Some of them are dismayed, angry, some of the disciples have their hands
up, gesturing, "it can't be me, it must be someone else." If you can imagine how you
would feel in that position, then you can understand how they are reacting.
Let's talk a little about how this work is composed. One of the things we've talked about
in this class is perspective, particularly linear perspective. You see any examples of
linear perspective in this painting? If you look at the rectangles or decorative features
on the walls, they create two lines that recede into the distance to the windows in the background.
So where do those lines converge in a vanishing point? It would be directly above the head
of Jesus and that tells us his importance in this work.
If you look at the ceiling, you can also see there are lines that likewise also converge
to the vanishing point. All of this creates a sense of depth.
Who is the betrayer? Do you have any guesses as to who it could be? It can be kind of hard
to tell, but there are a few devices da Vinci used to give it away to us. So the person
who is the betrayer has his left on the table, which looks like it is reaching for the bread,
and also reaching toward Jesus. So he is two people away from Jesus, on Jesus' right. So
if you're looking at it, it is our left. His face is in shadow, and his right hand is on
the table clutching a money bag. This is Judas. The word left has had a negative connotation
throughout history and so that is also a symbol telling us that he is the one betraying Jesus.
He is the only one with his left hand on the table, reaching toward Jesus.
Something else I want to point out quickly, and then we need to wrap this up, is that
da Vinci uses a lot of mathematics to arrange the composition. There are three windows behind
them which is symbolic of the Holy Trinity. In Christianity, there is the idea of one
God made of 3 beings: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. So that would be emblematic
of that. If you look at the restored version, which is in your Prezi, you'll see there are
3 crests above the painting, also symbolizing the Holy Trinity. In addition, Christ's body
also forms a triangle, which symbolizes the Trinity as well.