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7 October 2013
A View of the Last Supper
Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper (L’ Ultima Cena)’ it’s a mural painting measuring 180 inches long by 350 inches wide. This exquisite art piece describes an unevenly illuminated saloon with three windows providing a contrast between men made structure and nature. Outside these windows, astonishing blue skies and white clouds adorn a vast valley surrounded by high mountains that seem to touch the skies. This painting reflects a meeting which takes place inside the walls and emphasizes with extraordinary details the facial expressions, hand gestures and body language of the participants. Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” portrays the gathering of a group of people completely divided by a central controlling force. The setting of this visual story is a large dining hall where this conference is taking place. A long table with a white cloth is scattered with bread and other edible items. The “dining hall” has three windows and six doors. The largest window is directly behind the central character of the painting, which helps to illuminate him and signify his importance to the story. The background is much more dimly lit then the foreground and the right and left sides are much darker then the center of the painting. There are thirteen male guests in attendance ad this dinner party, each wearing robes and sandals. There are six people on each side of the central character, and there is a significant amount of space between them and the main character which also seats in the middle of the table giving him a different status and controlling aspect in contrast with the rest of the attendants in that reunion . This paint characterization portrays division among people. Their facial expressions show they’re not in accordance with the main. And his controlling force sets him apart from the others. To this right, there is a group of three gentlemen that seem to be trying to have a word with the main character. . One of them is pointing his index finger up portraying exaltation; when one with a green robe has his two hands opened side to side with a sign of hopelessness. . The grouping of three to the far right, are not making eye contact with the main character and seem to be talking to each other perplexed, also their hands gestures imply they’re lost and wondering. Onto the left side, there is a man looking down with eyes closed and seem to be falling back leaning away from the main character. Creating additional emotions one of the meeting participants applies force to an object with one hand implying anger. The most prominent character as a man with long brown hair and a bright red robe who seems to be the primary focus of the other people. The central character by looking down with his eyes closed and distinct body language seems to be evoking every range of emotions possible from the people with whom he is dining. He is the central focus of the painting; those looking toward him seem to have feelings ranging from adoration to contempt. Those facing away from him seem to still be focused on this man, either by pointing at him or talking about him; it also demonstrates that the central character has a powerful hold over the people at the dinner party, because his presence is clearly affecting them strongly.
Metaphorically speaking the painting interprets an individual as the host or “star” of a divided dinner party. There is a powerful hold as a metaphor for the human desire to choose a figure to be the center of attention. Whether the attention is positive or negative