Renaissance in EnglandWord格式.docx

1、It represents the scene of Last Supper from the final days of Jesus as narrated in the Gospel of John, the evening before Christ was betrayed by one of his disciples, he gathered them together to eat, tell them he knew what was coming and wash their feet （a gesture symbolizing that all were equal un

2、der the eyes of the Lord）. As they ate and drank together, Christ gave the disciples explicit instructions on how to eat and drink in the future, in remembrance of him. It was the first celebration of the Eucharist, a ritual still performed.Specifically, Last Supper depicts the next few seconds in t

3、his story after Christ dropped the bombshell that one disciple would betray him before sunrise, and all twelve have reacted to the news with different degrees of horror, anger and shock.Background.Brief introduction of the authorLeonardo da Vinci （April 15, 1452 May 2, 1519） has often been described

4、 as the archetype of the Renaissance man, a man whose seemingly infinite curiosity was equalled only by his powers of invention. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.In 1482 Leonardo, who was a most t

5、alented musician,created a silver lyre in the shape of a horses head. Leonardo was sent, bearing the lyre as a gift, to Milan, to secure peace with Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan. At this time Leonardo wrote an often-quoted letter to Ludovico, describing the many marvellous and diverse things that

6、he could achieve in the field of engineering and informing the Lord that he could also paint.Leonardo worked for Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, for nearly eighteen years （1482-99）. The Duke decided he wanted this particular religious scene painted in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, and L

7、eonardo who had a perfect financial sense decided to paint it.Leonardo believed that reality in an absolute sense is inaccessible to man and that we can know it only through its changing images.Thus, he considered the eyes to be mans most vital organs,and sight his most essential function,since thro

8、ugh these man can grasp the images of reality most directly and profoundly.Hence,one may understand Leonardos insistence, stated many times in his notes,that all his scientific investigations were merely aimed at making himself a better painter.The Last Supper（ According to New Testament:Gospel Acco

9、rding to John）The day of unleavened bread came, on which the Passover must be sacrificed. The Lord sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat. They said to him, Where do you want us to prepare? He said to them, Behold, when you have entered into the city, a man

10、carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him into the house which he enters. Tell the master of the house, The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? He will show you a large, furnished upper room. Make preparations there.They went, fou

11、nd things as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. When the hour had come, he sat down with the twelve apostles. He said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I will no longer by any means eat of it until it is fulfilled in the K

12、ingdom of God. He received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, Take this, and share it among yourselves, for I tell you, I will not drink at all again from the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God comes.He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave to them, sayi

13、ng, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me. Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it has been d

14、etermined, but woe to that man through whom he is betrayed! They began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.ReputationIn spite of its ruined state,in part the result of the painters own unfortuante experiments with his materials and although it has often been in

15、eptly restored,the Last Supper is both formally and emotionally his most impressive work. It is the first great figure composition of the Renaissance.The Last Supperwas at once a synthesis of the artistic developments of the fifteenth century and a first statement of the High Renaissance style of th

16、e early sixteenth in Italy.And it also begins the rhetoric of classical art that will direct the composition of generations of painters until the nineteenth century.Feature Analysis.The conjunction of dramatic words and ceremony initiationChrist and the twelve disciples are seated in a simple.spaciu

17、s room,at a long table set parallel to the picture plane.The highly dramatic action of the painting is made still more emphatic by the placement of the group in the austerely quiet setting.Christ,with outstretched hands,has just said,”one of you will betray me.”A wave of intense excitement passes th

18、rough the group as each disciple asks himself and,in some cases his neibour,”Is it I?”Leonardo has made a brilliant conjunction of the dramatic”one of you will betray me”with the initiation of the ancient liturgical ceremony of the Eucharist,When Christ blessing bread and wine,said”This is my body a

19、nd this is my blood:do this in remembrance of me.”The force and lucidity with shich this dramatic moment is expressed are due to the abstract organization of the composition.The conjunction of action and psychological focusIn the center Christ is in perfect repose, the still eye of the swirling emot

20、ion around him.Isolated from the disciples his figure is framed by the central window at the back,the curved pediment of which（the only curve in the architectural framework and here serving as a halo）arches above his head,which is the focal point all perspective lines in the composition.Leonardo cre

21、ates a realistic and psychologically engaging means to explain why Judas takes the bread at the same time as Jesus, just after Jesus has predicted that this is what his betrayer will do. The angles and lighting draw attention to Jesus, whose head is located at the vanishing point for all perspective

22、 lines.Thus,the still,psychological focus and cause of the action is at the same time the perspective focus as well as the dead center of the two-dimensional surface; one could say that the two-dimensional, the three-dimensional, and the psychodimensional focuses are one and the same.Elaborate arran

23、gement of each figureLooking across the picture from left to right:Bartholomew, James Minor and Andrew form a group of three. All are aghast, Andrew to the point of holding his hands up in a stop! gesture.Judas, Peter and John form the next group of three. Judas has his face in shadow and is clutchi

24、ng a small bag. Peter is visibly angry and a feminine-looking. John seems about to swoon.Christ is the calm in the midst of the storm.Thomas, James Major and Philip are next. Thomas is clearly agitated, James Major stunned and Philip seems to be seeking clarification.Matthew, Thaddeus and Simon comp

25、rise the last group of three figures. It appears that, when a situation turns ugly, Simon is the go to guy for explanations.Leonardo thought of each figure as carrying a particular charge and type of emotion.Like a skilled stage directorperhaps the first in the modern sensehe has carefully read the

26、gospel story and scrupulously cast his actors as their roles are described.Pictorial and dramatic consistencyJudas on the same side of the table as Jesus and the other disciples.His face in shadow,he clutches a money bag in his right hand and reches forward his left to filfill the Masters declaratio

27、n:“Behold,the hand of him that betrayth me is with me on the table.”The two disciples at either end of the table are more quiet than the others, as if to enclose the overoll movement, which is more intense closer to the figure of Christ,whose calm at the same time halts and intensifies it.“The origi

28、nal impulse and the emotional excitement continue to echo and the action is at once momentary,eternal and complete.”（Heinrich Wlfflin） The two major trends of fifteenth-century paintingmonumentality and mathematiclly ordered space at the expense of movement, and freedom of movement at the expense of

29、 monumentality and controlled spaceare here harmonized and balanced.Conjunction of the dramatic and realistic elementsIn common with other depictions of The Last Supperfrom this period, Leonardo adopts the convention of seating the diners on one side of the table, so that none of them have their bac

30、ks to the viewer. However, most previous depictions had typically excluded Judas by placing him alone on the opposite side of the table from the other eleven disciples and Jesus. Another technique commonly used was placing halos around all the disciples except Judas. Leonardo creates a more dramatic

31、 and realistic effect by having Judas lean back into shadow.The theme was a traditional one for refectories, but Leonardos interpretation gave it much greater realism and depth. The lunettes above the main painting, formed by the triple arched ceiling of the refectory, are painted with Sforza coats-of-arms. The opposite wall of the refectory is covered by the Crucifixion fresco by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano, to which Leonardo added figures of the Sforza family in tempera. （These figures have