Leonardo da Vinci and Tintoretto are the two great painters who are known for their very famous paintings called “The Last Supper”. This painting has a religious theme. The Last Supper is one of the most important incidents in Christian religion. In this incident, Jesus Christ had gathered all his disciples to announce that one of his twelve apostles will betray him before the sunrise. The painting depicts this scene and shows how the twelve apostles have reacted to the news with different degrees of horror, anger and shock.
Leonardo’s “Last Supper” is a fresco painting executed for the dining hall of a Milan monastery. It is known to be one of his greatest works. He began working on it in 1495 and finished it in 1498. Leonardo used his skills to create a very detailed and naturalistic piece of work. He has created all the characters with amazing individuality. The viewer is first attracted to the figure of Jesus Christ who is sitting among his apostles. Leonardo has used geometric shapes to represent the windows behind Jesus, the doors behind apostles and the ceiling. The painter has chosen to depict the moment when Jesus says, “one of you will betray me”. The apostles are seen in a state of shock and denial. The effect of this statement is visible. Despite their dramatic reaction, Leonardo imposes a sense of order on the scene. Christ’s head is at the center framed by a halo-like architectural opening. The apostles are arranged around him in four groups of three united by their posture and gesture. Judas, who was traditionally placed on the opposite side of the table, is here set apart from the other apostles by his shadowed face.
Leonardo tried some new painting techniques for this painting. Instead of using tempera on wet plaster he used dry plaster. This experiment resulted in a more varied palette, which was what he had intended to achieve. However, the painted plaster began to fall off the wall immediately.
Tintoretto started painting “The Last Supper” in 1592 and completed it in 1594. In this painting, he created a special atmosphere by using two light sources, darker colors and transparent hovering angles which added a supernatural effect in the painting. Tintoretto’s version of the painting demonstrates a dramatic change in art and the concept of art over almost a century when it is compared to the one drawn by Leonardo. He has used intensified streaks of light to emphasize on the direction of movement, and thus heighten the effect of dramatic action. Everything and everyone is set in a motion, people are seen walking and leaning against each other, angels are flying. Mainly due to the light effects, a distinction is made between the hovering angles and the human bodies below. Tintoretto has maintained the basic realism, in drawing bodily proportions, and in expressing the color and texture of objects like the fruit, cloth and glassware. The composition in space is fantastic and successfully unified.
Both painters have done a great job in making these paintings. At the first glance Leonardo’s painting looks fairly remarkable. It represents a strongly horizontal organization with a symmetrical balanced group of apostles behind a long table, divided by Christ at the center but on a closer analysis we see Leonardo’s tranquility being radically rearranged. On the other hand Tintoretto’s painting is asymmetrical, complicated and very crowded; it is difficult to indentify particular disciples. The instant Tintoretto chose to portray differs from that of Leonardo. Leonardo chose the point at which Jesus announced that one of his apostles will betray him. However Tintoretto chose to describe the moment when Jesus shared bread, which symbolized his body as the wine stood for his blood. Leonardo chose the moment to describe death where as Tintoretto chose a moment to signify life. The drama of facial expressions that is seen in the Leonardo’s version is almost totally missing in the Tintoretto’s painting. The gestures too are arranged so as to contribute most to the general motion; not so as to be most expressive emotionally. Yet the story is conveyed and is its dramatic pace is quickened by the atmosphere of electrical demonstration.
Hassan Tahir
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