Introduction
The picture pasted above is a well-known oil painting by the genius artist of the late 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci. The author of the picture worked on this masterpiece from 1495 to 1498. It was rather a long and complicated process of creating this artwork because just at the beginning of coming up with the idea and starting to paint it, the invasion of Italy by the king of France, Louis XII, started. Leonardo lost his personal works and suffered greatly during these uneasy times, even though he was still looking for new, interesting faces for his art pieces. Therefore, the warfare, hunger, and general complexities of that time were huge disadvantages for the artist. However, the modern art community is lucky enough that this painting survived all the historic events, such as wars, revolutions, et cetera. In addition, on August 15, 1943, the church where the painting was situated, was bombed but, surprisingly, people managed to save The Last Supper.
Remarkably, this painting is memorable and valuable not only for its high artistic quality but for the fact that this art piece made Leonardo Da Vinci famous and celebrated during his lifetime. The brush strokes, realistic faces and figures, unusual setting, and meaningful composition are the main reasons why this painting became greatly appreciated. The face of Jesus Christ is painted in quite a spectacular way, showing a calm, brooding, and empathetic character of God’s son. His posture reminds us of greater love and peace among our neighbors – the principles that the Creator intended. The artist could vividly depict the emotions of every disciple, too. Leonardo managed to show the inner world and mental state of every follower of Jesus Christ in the picture. No doubt this artwork was actually ground-breaking and rather profound, that is why the painting successfully stood the test of time.
Speaking of the meaning behind the picture, Leonardo Da Vinci depicted the last meal that Christ had with 12 of his disciples. The supper is unusual because that is when Jesus Christ announced that one of the apostles would betray him that night before the crucifixion (Rhoads 2020). The picture shows how every one of the disciples reacts to Christ’s assertion. The depicted disciples are Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who, as we all know, was the infamous traitor. Notably, a lot of art historians say that every face in the painting was based on a real person in Italy. Moreover, to paint Judas, Leonardo Da Vinci looked for the right face among the prisoners of Milan. Surely, the critics agree the character of Judas turned out to be quite complex and flawed in the picture. Therefore, the intention of the author was successfully achieved, and to this day, millions of people empathize with this artwork and call it an absolute masterpiece.
A Descriptive Poem
12 disciples in a spacious hall.
Here, Jesus Christ is near them all,
Peacefully sits in the center,
While others act wild in front of their mentor.
Every reaction to the words of God
Seems quite unique because all these people are flawed.
Apostles barely touched the colorful food,
They can’t forget about their gratitude
Towards their loving teacher –
They couldn’t betray their preacher.
But Judas looks evil and jealous.
His fearsome face tells us
That the worst mistake ever made
Is about to happen.
Reference
Rhoads, D., & Michie, D. (2020). The Last Supper: Who Are We?. Living Faith: Through the Church’s Year, 47.