4º andrea & ruth the last supper

THE LAST SUPPER BY

LEONARDO DA VINCI

WORK DONE BY:

ANDREA SABIO & RUTH NOUCHE 4ยบ ESO

TABLE OF CONTENTS: TABLE OF COTENTS ............................................................... 1 A LITTLE ABOUT THE ATHOR .................................................... 2 ANALAYSING ARTWORK .......................................................... 3 INTRODUTION ..................................................................... 4 - RUTH’S VERSION .......................................................... 4 - ANDREA’S VERSION ....................................................... 4 - REAL VERSION ............................................................. 4 SUBJECT ............................................................................ 5 FORMAL QUALITIES ............................................................... 5 SYMBOLISM ................................................................. 6-7-8-9 - PLATON ..................................................................... 6 - LEONARDO ................................................................. 6 - THOMAS .................................................................... 6 - JESUS ........................................................................ 7 - MARIA MAGDALENA ...................................................... 7 - JUDAS ....................................................................... 8 - PEDRO ...................................................................... 8 - A BABY ...................................................................... 8 - AUREOLES .................................................................. 9 - SAINT GRIAL ................................................................ 9 - THE SONG .................................................................. 9 JUDGE ............................................................................. 10 - RUTH ...................................................................... 10 - ANDREA ................................................................... 10 - ART CRITICS .............................................................. 10 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................. 11-12

1

A LITTLE ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was born on April 15th, in 1452 in Toscana (Vinci, Republic of Florence) and he died when he was 67 years old on May 2, in 1519 in Ambroise (Kingdom of France).

He was a Renaissance polymath and nowadays he is considered the most diversely talented person of the History (he was a painter, poet, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, philosopher, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, engineer and writer). He had very advanced ideas for his time (he made a sketch of a helicopter, a submarine, a car…) but he is more known for the “Vitruvian man”, “La Gioconda” and “The last supper”. He established the bases of the actual anatomy science (for this purpose, he dissected animals and criminals’ bodies). He was an innovator in all of his works so he can’t belong to one artistic current.

It is said that Leonardo was a vegetarian and that he had sexual relationships with his pupils Salai and Melzi.

2

ANALYSING ARTWORK: We will talk about “The last supper” by Leonardo da Vinci. This painting is copied by a lot of art students but the original is found in the refectory of the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. The artwork is a temple and oil on plaster. It is of renaissance style and it is 460 x 880 cm.

In the painting we see a big stone room. In the background of it there are a door and two windows without glasses. Through it we can see mountains and a blue sky. On both sides there are four big brown red tapestries and between them we think that there are three doors. In the foreground we see thirteen people talking to each other and sitting at a big table. The people are wearing differently coloured robes. They have different expressions, hairstyle, positions… And all of them are wearing sandals. One of them has a knife, and other has a bag. On the table there is a white tablecloth with blue details on both sides. On the tablecloth we can see some glasses of red wine, plates, fruit, bread and some bowls with meat or fish. The ceiling is made of stone beam.

It is more illuminated in the centre and we think that the author used the shadows from left to give a sinister sensation.

This painting was restored a couple of times.

The perspective is straight-on.

The painting conveys us confidence and secrets.

No Leonardo’s painting is similar to other. He never painted the same person twice. He was always innovating.

His painting style wasn’t typical of that era. He was an innovator and a great artist advanced for his age.

3

INTRODUCTION: In this project we will talk about Leonardo da Vinci, “The last supper” and some of the secrets that this painting hides. There are three versions of the story of this painting, Ruth’s version, Andrea’s version and then the real.

RUTH’S VERSION: When I saw the picture I thought that those people were Jesus and his friends, the apostles, in a typical dinner. I didn’t see any of the important details that now we will explain you.

ANDREA’S VERSION: When I saw the picture for the first time, I didn’t know that the man who is in the centre was Jesus and the other the apostles. Indeed, I thought that the man who is grasping the knife wanted to kill the man who is in the center and who is wondering if he wants to kill him while the people who are talking to Jesus were distracting him. I think that the people, who are on both sides of the table, are discussing whether they will really let that happen or they will stop it.

REAL VERSION: The painting was created because Ludovico Sforza (called “El moro”) ordered Leonardo to paint “The last supper” for the convent. That explains the ducal symbols that are painted on the three semicircular arches.

4

SUBJECT: We think that the subject of the painting is Jesus’ last dinner with his apostles.

FORMAL QUALITIES: The artwork is a temple and oil on plaster. In the painting we can see lines in all directions and forms.

The artist uses cold colours in the room and warm with the apostles.

The atmosphere is cold, the room and the landscape look cold but the apostles and Jesus are painted with warm colours; making a contrast.

5

SYMBOLISM: In the painting “The last supper”, Leonardo hides a lot of pagan symbols opposed to the Catholic Church (From right to left)

PLATON: Platon wasn’t accepted by the Catholic Church. We think that, for this reason, Leonardo represented him in the painting, as one of the apostles.

LEONARDO: Da Vinci represented himself with his back to Jesus in order to show his suspicion towards the Catholic Church.

THOMAS: The supposed Jesus’ twin is painted next to his brother. Critics think this way because of the similitude between both men, and because in Aramaic, Thomas means twin. A lot of people don’t want to recognize that, because it calls into question Jesus’ resurrection, a very important fact for Catholics.

6

JESUS: He is the only person who wears three colours in his robe. It is a question that now we don’t know how to answer.

MARIA MAGDALENA: She is the most controversial figure in the painting. A lot of people think that she/he is Juan, but Leonardo painted him/her with female features to represent Maria Magdalena, Jesus’ partner. Besides, at the bottom right corner of the tablecloth, we can see a knot, and, in that age, it represented that there was a woman at the table. If you pay attention, you can see that Jesus and Maria Magdalena make up the silhouette of a chalice. And, if we cut the figure of Maria and we put it to Jesus’ right, it perfectly fits in his shoulder. The colours of their robes are completely complementary. A lot of people think that she (Maria Magdalena) symbolizes the Saint Grial.

7

JUDAS: He has a bag in his right hand. We think that Leonardo painted this object in his hand because it is said that Judas sold Jesus for money.

PEDRO: He is grasping the knife. It represents Jesus and Maria Magdalena. It is this way because they represent the “New Church” while Juan represents the “Old Church”. Leonardo wanted to show us the conflict between both Churches.

A BABY: Although it isn’t very obvious, in this painting Leonardo represented the Divine Trinity. The Divine Trinity is made up

by Jesus, the father, Maria, the Holy Spirit, and the son, the baby of the painting. And, where is the baby? All eyes are looking at him.

8

AUREOLES: In this time, it was very common to use the aureoles to distinguish the apostles and saints from the others no-saints. Here we can sense Leonardo’s lack of faith.

SAINT GRIAL: As we have already said. Maria Magdalena symbolizes the chalice. It is said that her uterus is the chalice and her baby is Jesus’ blood.

THE SONG: Some people think that Leonardo hides a score in his painting. The musical notes are represented by the pieces of bread and the apostles’ hands.

9

JUDGE: RUTH: For me, this painting is spectacular for a person of his time. I think that it is a very important painting.

ANDREA: I think that it is really a good artwork, specially for the time it was painted. I also think that Leonardo was an incredible and talented genius of the history.

ART CRITICS: For many art’s studious, this painting is the best pictorial work in world.

10

BIBLIOGRAPHY IMAGES: COVER PAGE: “THE LAST SUPPER” OF LEONARDO DA VINCI http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg PAGE 1:

LEONARDO’S PORTRAIT http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Possible_SelfPortrait_of_Leonardo_da_Vinci.jpg

PAGE 4: PALETTE http://pixabay.com/get/1d1ae7478bdacb447551/1394128429/color-palette207082_1920.jpg?direct

PAGE 5: PLATON http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg (it was edit)

LEONARDO http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg (it was edit)

THOMAS http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg (it was edit)

PAGE 6: JESUS http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg (it was edit)

MARIA MAGDALENA http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg (it was edit)

PAGE 7: JUDAS http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg (it was edit)

PEDRO http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg (it was edit)

THE BABY http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg (it was edit)

11

PAGE 8: AUREOLES AND THE SONG http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg (it was edit)

INFORMATION RESOURCES: SYMBOLISM: Unknown. “Los 6 misterios de la última cena de Leonardo da Vinci”. Misterios sin resolver. http://misteriossinresover.blogspot.com.es/2012/10/los-6-misterios-de-la-ultima-cena-de.html [Consult: February, 27th 2014] Soto, Mariana. “Los Misterios de la Última Cena”. Espacio místico. March, 28th 2013. http://espaciomistico.com/los-misterios-de-la-ultima-cena/ [Consult: February, 27th 2014]

LEONARDO DI SER PIERO DA VINCI: Unknown. “Leonardo da Vinci”. Wikipedia. This page was last modified on 28 February 2014 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci [Consult: February, 21th 2014]

O CÓDIGO DA VINCI

DE DAN BROWN:

Brown, Dan. O código da Vinci. El Aleph Editores. Maio, 2004.

12