Renaissance in England.docx

Renaissance in England.docx

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RenaissanceinEngland

RenaissanceinEngland

BriefIntroduction

TheLastSupperisa15thcenturymuralpaintinginMilancreatedbyLeonardodaVinciforhispatronDukeLudovicoSforzaandhisduchessBeatriced'Este.Thepaintingmeasures460×880centimeters（15feet×29feet）andcoversthebackwallofthedininghallatSantaMariadelleGrazieinMilan,Italy.

ItrepresentsthesceneofLastSupperfromthefinaldaysofJesusasnarratedintheGospelofJohn,theeveningbeforeChristwasbetrayedbyoneofhisdisciples,hegatheredthemtogethertoeat,tellthemheknewwhatwascomingandwashtheirfeet（agesturesymbolizingthatallwereequalundertheeyesoftheLord）.Astheyateanddranktogether,Christgavethedisciplesexplicitinstructionsonhowtoeatanddrinkinthefuture,inremembranceofhim.ItwasthefirstcelebrationoftheEucharist,aritualstillperformed.

Specifically,LastSupperdepictsthenextfewsecondsinthisstoryafterChristdroppedthebombshellthatonedisciplewouldbetrayhimbeforesunrise,andalltwelvehavereactedtothenewswithdifferentdegreesofhorror,angerandshock.

Background

Ⅰ.Briefintroductionoftheauthor

LeonardodaVinci（April15,1452–May2,1519）hasoftenbeendescribedasthearchetypeofthe"Renaissanceman",amanwhoseseeminglyinfinitecuriositywasequalledonlybyhispowersofinvention.Heiswidelyconsideredtobeoneofthegreatestpaintersofalltimeandperhapsthemostdiverselytalentedpersonevertohavelived.

In1482Leonardo,whowasamosttalentedmusician,createdasilverlyreintheshapeofahorse'shead.Leonardowassent,bearingthelyreasagift,toMilan,tosecurepeacewithLudovicoilMoro,DukeofMilan.AtthistimeLeonardowroteanoften-quotedlettertoLudovico,describingthemanymarvellousanddiversethingsthathecouldachieveinthefieldofengineeringandinformingtheLordthathecouldalsopaint.

LeonardoworkedforLudovicoSforza,DukeofMilan,fornearlyeighteenyears（1482-99）.TheDukedecidedhewantedthisparticularreligiousscenepaintedinthemonasteryofSantaMariadelleGrazie,andLeonardowhohadaperfectfinancialsensedecidedtopaintit.

Leonardobelievedthatrealityinanabsolutesenseisinaccessibletomanandthatwecanknowitonlythroughitschangingimages.Thus,heconsideredtheeyestobeman’smostvitalorgans,andsighthismostessentialfunction,sincethroughthesemancangrasptheimagesofrealitymostdirectlyandprofoundly.Hence,onemayunderstandLeonardo’sinsistence,statedmanytimesinhisnotes,thatallhisscientificinvestigationsweremerelyaimedatmakinghimselfabetterpainter.

Ⅱ.TheLastSupper（AccordingtoNewTestament:

GospelAccordingtoJohn）

Thedayofunleavenedbreadcame,onwhichthePassovermustbesacrificed.TheLordsentPeterandJohn,saying,"GoandpreparethePassoverforus,thatwemayeat."Theysaidtohim,"Wheredoyouwantustoprepare?

"Hesaidtothem,"Behold,whenyouhaveenteredintothecity,amancarryingapitcherofwaterwillmeetyou.Followhimintothehousewhichheenters.Tellthemasterofthehouse,'TheTeachersaystoyou,"Whereistheguestroom,whereImayeatthePassoverwithmydisciples?

"'Hewillshowyoualarge,furnishedupperroom.Makepreparationsthere."

Theywent,foundthingsashehadtoldthem,andtheypreparedthePassover.Whenthehourhadcome,hesatdownwiththetwelveapostles.Hesaidtothem,"IhaveearnestlydesiredtoeatthisPassoverwithyoubeforeIsuffer,forItellyou,IwillnolongerbyanymeanseatofituntilitisfulfilledintheKingdomofGod."Hereceivedacup,andwhenhehadgiventhanks,hesaid,"Takethis,andshareitamongyourselves,forItellyou,Iwillnotdrinkatallagainfromthefruitofthevine,untiltheKingdomofGodcomes."

Hetookbread,andwhenhehadgiventhanks,hebrokeit,andgavetothem,saying,"Thisismybodywhichisgivenforyou.Dothisinmemoryofme."Likewise,hetookthecupaftersupper,saying,"Thiscupisthenewcovenantinmyblood,whichispouredoutforyou.Butbehold,thehandofhimwhobetraysmeiswithmeonthetable.TheSonofManindeedgoes,asithasbeendetermined,butwoetothatmanthroughwhomheisbetrayed!

"Theybegantoquestionamongthemselves,whichofthemitwaswhowoulddothisthing.

Reputation

Inspiteofitsruinedstate,inparttheresultofthepainter’sownunfortuanteexperimentswithhismaterialsandalthoughithasoftenbeenineptlyrestored,theLastSupperisbothformallyandemotionallyhismostimpressivework.ItisthefirstgreatfigurecompositionoftheRenaissance.

TheLastSupperwasatonceasynthesisoftheartisticdevelopmentsofthefifteenthcenturyandafirststatementoftheHighRenaissancestyleoftheearlysixteenthinItaly.Anditalsobeginstherhetoricofclassicalartthatwilldirectthecompositionofgenerationsofpaintersuntilthenineteenthcentury.

FeatureAnalysis

Ⅰ.Theconjunctionofdramaticwordsandceremonyinitiation

Christandthetwelvedisciplesareseatedinasimple.spaciusroom,atalongtablesetparalleltothepictureplane.Thehighlydramaticactionofthepaintingismadestillmoreemphaticbytheplacementofthegroupintheausterelyquietsetting.Christ,withoutstretchedhands,hasjustsaid,”oneofyouwillbetrayme.”Awaveofintenseexcitementpassesthroughthegroupaseachdiscipleaskshimselfand,insomecaseshisneibour,”IsitI?

”

Leonardohasmadeabrilliantconjunctionofthedramatic”oneofyouwillbetrayme”withtheinitiationoftheancientliturgicalceremonyoftheEucharist,WhenChristblessingbreadandwine,said”Thisismybodyandthisismyblood:

dothisinremembranceofme.”Theforceandluciditywithshichthisdramaticmomentisexpressedareduetotheabstractorganizationofthecomposition.

Ⅱ.Theconjunctionofactionandpsychologicalfocus

InthecenterChristisinperfectrepose,thestilleyeoftheswirlingemotionaroundhim.Isolatedfromthediscipleshisfigureisframedbythecentralwindowattheback,thecurvedpedimentofwhich（theonlycurveinthearchitecturalframeworkandhereservingasahalo）archesabovehishead,whichisthefocalpointallperspectivelinesinthecomposition.

LeonardocreatesarealisticandpsychologicallyengagingmeanstoexplainwhyJudastakesthebreadatthesametimeasJesus,justafterJesushaspredictedthatthisiswhathisbetrayerwilldo.TheanglesandlightingdrawattentiontoJesus,whoseheadislocatedatthevanishingpointforallperspectivelines.

Thus,thestill,psychologicalfocusandcauseoftheactionisatthesametimetheperspectivefocusaswellasthedeadcenterofthetwo-dimensionalsurface;onecouldsaythatthetwo-dimensional,thethree-dimensional,andthepsychodimensionalfocusesareoneandthesame.

Ⅲ.Elaboratearrangementofeachfigure

Lookingacrossthepicturefromlefttoright:

Bartholomew,JamesMinorandAndrewformagroupofthree.Allareaghast,Andrewtothepointofholdinghishandsupina"stop!

"gesture.

Judas,PeterandJohnformthenextgroupofthree.Judashashisfaceinshadowandisclutchingasmallbag.Peterisvisiblyangryandafeminine-looking.Johnseemsabouttoswoon..

Christisthecalminthemidstofthestorm.

Thomas,JamesMajorandPhiliparenext.Thomasisclearlyagitated,JamesMajorstunnedandPhilipseemstobeseekingclarification.

Matthew,ThaddeusandSimoncomprisethelastgroupofthreefigures.Itappearsthat,whenasituationturnsugly,Simonisthe"goto"guyforexplanations.

Leonardothoughtofeachfigureascarryingaparticularchargeandtypeofemotion.Likeaskilledstagedirector—perhapsthefirstinthemodernsense—hehascarefullyreadthegospelstoryandscrupulouslycasthisactorsastheirrolesaredescribed.

Ⅳ.Pictorialanddramaticconsistency

JudasonthesamesideofthetableasJesusandtheotherdisciples.Hisfaceinshadow,heclutchesamoneybaginhisrighthandandrechesforwardhislefttofilfilltheMaster’sdeclaration:

“Behold,thehandofhimthatbetraythmeiswithmeonthetable.”Thetwodisciplesateitherendofthetablearemorequietthantheothers,asiftoenclosetheoverollmovement,whichismoreintenseclosertothefigureofChrist,whosecalmatthesametimehaltsandintensifiesit.

“Theoriginalimpulseandtheemotionalexcitementcontinuetoechoandtheactionisatoncemomentary,eternalandcomplete.”（HeinrichWǒlfflin）Thetwomajortrendsoffifteenth-centurypainting—monumentalityandmathematicllyorderedspaceattheexpenseofmovement,andfreedomofmovementattheexpenseofmonumentalityandcontrolledspace—arehereharmonizedandbalanced.

Ⅴ.Conjunctionofthedramaticandrealisticelements

IncommonwithotherdepictionsofTheLastSupperfromthisperiod,Leonardoadoptstheconventionofseatingthedinersononesideofthetable,sothatnoneofthemhavetheirbackstotheviewer.However,mostpreviousdepictionshadtypicallyexcludedJudasbyplacinghimaloneontheoppositesideofthetablefromtheotherelevendisciplesandJesus.AnothertechniquecommonlyusedwasplacinghalosaroundallthedisciplesexceptJudas.LeonardocreatesamoredramaticandrealisticeffectbyhavingJudasleanbackintoshadow.

Thethemewasatraditionaloneforrefectories,butLeonardo'sinterpretationgaveitmuchgreaterrealismanddepth.Thelunettesabovethemainpainting,formedbythetriplearchedceilingoftherefectory,arepaintedwithSforzacoats-of-arms.TheoppositewalloftherefectoryiscoveredbytheCrucifixionfrescobyGiovanniDonatodaMontorfano,towhichLeonardoaddedfiguresoftheSforzafamilyintempera.（Thesefigureshave