The Last Supper Essay

Improved Essays
Show More
With around 2.18 billion followers in over 200 countries (Dimock), Christianity is one of the world’s top religions, and Leonardo da Vinci’s piece The Last Supper perfectly captures the essence of it. The story of the last supper is well known by more than just Christians, which is perhaps why the piece has become so beloved. This piece has impacted the world in nearly every area, and with incredible techniques, da Vinci literally creates a story within a picture. There is something beautiful about a painting that uncovers more each time you look at it. A simple glance at this powerful picture, will leave you feeling as if you were sitting next to Jesus, as he was eating his last supper. Started in 1495 and finished in 1498, Leonardo da …show more content…
As the story goes, Jesus warns his apostles that one of them will soon betray him. Philip, sitting to the right, questions Jesus, inquiring as to if it will be him. Jesus replies by saying, “He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me” (Matthew 26:23). This is experienced in the painting as Philip has his head tilted and palms pointed towards himself (Harris and Zucker). Foreshadowing comes into play, as Judas, sitting to Jesus’ left, is grasping a bag and reaching for the same plate as Jesus, representing the money he was paid to betray Jesus …show more content…
The hidden messages, symbolism, and foreshadowing in the piece unfold a familiar story in a marvelous way. To say this piece is beautiful is an understatement. Detail upon detail, color upon color, the techniques used by da Vinci enlighten every viewer, and fabricates a story without using words, creating a picture that truly speaks 1,000 words. The Last Supper is a piece never to be forgotten as, da Vinci has great a piece with multiple layers that together form not only a painting but a story so beautiful that you never want to look

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Leonardo Da Vinci Last Supper Painting
    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Leonardo Da Vinci Last Supper Painting

    Analyzing Art Work by Different Artists from Different Periods Art is very important to people especially when it represents spirituality. It adds a strong connection between the artist and the viewers on something they both agree on. Art in the early Renaissance was mostly about spirituality, but as time passes by, artists paid less attention to spirituality, and they started adding other themes to art. I intend to show that The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, represents the scene of The Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. Da Vinci has depicted the horror in the 12 disciples’ faces when Jesus announced that one of them would betray him.…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Julia Yonetani The Last Supper Analysis
    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Julia Yonetani The Last Supper Analysis

    The Last Supper is a still life sculpture made by Ken and Julia Yonetani using groundwater salt from the Murray River. The image of the large banquet is chipped, moulded and cut from a 1.5 tonnes of salt into a three-dimensional “still life” masterpiece with the dimensions of 9 metres in length, 0.72 metres in width and 1.22 metres in height. The sculpture is of a nine-metre table laid with a variety of food on top, such as fruit and vegetables, lobster and fish and various shaped glasses and cups. The items and table are extremely detailed; this makes the still life sculpture realistic and life-like. The sculpture investigates the topic of consumption, comfort, admiration and humanity.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Paint The Last Supper By Ludovico And Michelangelo
    • 1905 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Paint The Last Supper By Ludovico And Michelangelo

    The main storyline is how Leonardo won’t finish the Last Supper and his servant Giacomo tries to help him finish/motivate him to finish the painting by Easter because the Pope is coming to town. Giacomo keeps asking Leonardo to teach him to paint, but he refuses every time. Giacomo found…

    • 1905 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Leonardo The Last Supper Analysis
    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Leonardo The Last Supper Analysis

    The painting shows the last meal shared by Jesus with his disciples, before his capture and death. Leonardo chose to paint the moment when Jesus has said "one of you will betray me", so the painting have name The last supper. Leonardo tells the story of the surprise and upset that this caused to the twelve followers of Jesus. My favorite feeling in this painting, I think this painting has feel of the people in painting.…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Leonardo Da Vinci Research Paper Outline
    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Leonardo Da Vinci Research Paper Outline

    Da Vinci’s decision to paint with tempera and oil on dried plaster instead of painting a fresco on fresh plaster caused the painting to swiftly deteriorate and flake. Even though, the improper restoration of The Last Supper caused more damage to the piece, it’s being alleviated using up to date conservation…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    How Did Romeo Veronese Last Supper
    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Did Romeo Veronese Last Supper

    In 1573, Paolo Veronese, a Venetian artist, painted the Last Supper within the Church of San Giovanni e Paolo Venice. Venice was essentially the trading port for all of Europe at the time. There were pathways through the Mediterranean to other European countries as well as to Africa and the Middle East. Thus, Venice was the point where multiple cultures came together and interconnected, and this greatly influenced Veronese’s work. Veronese’s main focus in the work of art was the individuals.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Leonardo Davinci Research Paper
    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Leonardo Davinci Research Paper

    Leonardo’s religious artwork was the last supper for the church. They are also both renaissance artist (The New…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Analysis Of The Last Thanks By Wendy Red Star
    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Analysis Of The Last Thanks By Wendy Red Star

    The artist describes her work with, “The look pulls people in, but as you look closer you can see the image deteriorate, and if you are more privy to Native history you can see it right away” (qtd in Brien). As one examines The Last Thanks, it is evident that Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting, The Last Supper, sparked Wendy Red Star’s inspiration for this photograph. It is obvious in the title itself that The Last Thanks is influenced by The Last Supper. Red Star is even positioned similarly as Da Vinci’s portrayal of Jesus Christ. With the obvious comparisons to Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous piece, Red Star’s artwork “successfully forces the viewer to critique colonialism and religion with every examination of the image” (Tesema).…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Why Is Leonardo Da Vinci Considered A Major Renaissance Man
    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Why Is Leonardo Da Vinci Considered A Major Renaissance Man

    Everyone knows what the last supper was it was one of the most important parts of Jesus’ life. It's where he performed the first mass with the consecrated host and he told his followers of a traitor amongst them. All of these Important thing depicted in one painting in a way that to me, seemed to say it all in the motionless painting by da Vinci. The Last Supper is in my opinion da Vinci's most beautiful painting out of the ones I've seen.…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Calling Of St Mathew Analysis
    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Calling Of St Mathew Analysis

    Introduction The ‘Calling of St Mathew’ and ‘The Last Supper’ are beautiful and renowned pieces of artwork, created by two artistically gifted individuals who are regarded as among the all-time greats in Western Art. As a result, they hold an influential place in Western Art history, commanding great influence on contemporary artists. The ‘Calling of St. Matthew’ is an oil painting set on a 322 × 340 cm canvas. It was painted between 1599 and 1600 by the Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio who was born in 1571 and lived for 39 years before his demise in 1610.…

    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Leonardo Da Vinci: The Ideal Renaissance Man
    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Leonardo Da Vinci: The Ideal Renaissance Man

    His most famous works, The Mona Lisa (1503–1519), and The Last Supper (1495–1498), represent how the artist is considered the best painter ever. The Last Supper depicts Christ and his 12 disciples and their reactions, after he says to them, “One of you will betray me.” It is considered a perfect composition and shows such particular emotions on the faces of the disciples that no other artist could achieve. In the Mona Lisa, Da Vinci presents a woman, that is debated to be several different women, and a landscape in the back. However, it is the perfect blend of portrait and landscape, while mixing nature and humanity, which relates to his philosophies.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Tintoretto The Last Supper Analysis
    • 1461 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Tintoretto The Last Supper Analysis

    This use of dramatic perspective was mixed with the unusual artistic device of the ‘exploding center’ (Murray et al 608). The focal point of this image, Jesus and his halo, appear as a sort of explosion in the receding calmness of the rest of the image. The painting is dominated by darkness, the lightest point being Jesus at the side of the food-filled table. He is accompanied by his disciples at the table, and by ordinary people at the right bottom corner. The scene takes place in a low ceilinged room with tiles on the floor, a fire lamp illuminating the image.…

    • 1461 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Yo Mama's Last Supper Analysis
    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Yo Mama's Last Supper Analysis

    Yo Mama’s Last Supper by Cox portrays a naked black woman in the middle, surrounded by twelve men sitting around the table, six men on each side. She is not wearing any sort of garments except for a simple white cloth around her arms that are spread out. This art piece consists of five photographs each with three-men group; thus, the seeming division based upon similar actions is created. The man immediate right to the woman is the only man with paler skin color. On the table, there are a feast of fruits, vegetables, bread, and drinks.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Michelangelo's The Last Judgement Analysis
    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Michelangelo's The Last Judgement Analysis

    Since the Renaissance period, many things have changed, from the way we act and the way we dress, but one thing that has not changed is our appreciation for art. Art, then and now, captures the worries and problems that are going on in the World around us. Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgement” (1536-1541), has many scenes within the painting that show the people’s facial expressions, mostly of worry, for whether or not they will be sent to Heaven or Hell. Michelangelo (1475-1564) just may as well be one of the greatest Italian artists of the Renaissance period, creating some of the most creative and inspiring artwork during his lifetime. Looking at all of his paintings and sculptures, one can definitely tell that his artwork is very detailed…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Michelangelo Compare And Contrast Leonardo And Michelangelo
    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Michelangelo Compare And Contrast Leonardo And Michelangelo

    Despite our personal views, paintings, sculptures, places, and churches reflect worldview and civic identity. In the “Last Supper,” Leonardo shows monumental simplicity (Bondanella and Musa 48). His composition is masterful. He strikes the contrast of the disciples’ attitudes as counter posed to that of Christ. Instead of choosing the portrayal of Judas as customary in the iconographic tradition, he portrayed the moment of highest tension in the New Testament as in the bible, “One of you that eat with me will betray me."…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings