Edwin Velesaca

Sr. Nieves - Ms. L

Masterpiece
3/4/16
The Last Supper
One of the greatest pieces of art know as The Last Supper came from one of the most
famous artists named Leonardo DaVinci during the Era of the Italian Renaissance. The Last
Supper is a masterpiece because the work DaVinci did was unique and one of a kind, had
profound assertion of human values of each individual's emotion in the painting, and retains lines
of communication with the immediate past because the church and the artist had interests about
religious paintings.
The Last Supper is a masterpiece because of its uniqueness. A paper from UXL
Biographies says The work has been hailed as the ultimate mark of the Renaissance, the highest
achievement of beauty, symmetry, and spiritually (UXL Biographies). During the Renaissance
era, many artists created paintings, sculptures, and other things which were influenced by the
church, creating beauty and full of spirituality. The most famous is DaVincis The Last Supper
painting. Its unique because the painting depicts the reaction of each disciple to the news Jesus
gave them. It was the ultimate mark of the Renaissance because of it uniqueness. A website had
explained that The Last Supper has a highest achievement in beauty and symmetry shows every
detail each disciple is showing, shock, curiosity and worrisome. Although on the painting it
looks like a normal story from the Bible, but in fact it is a use of high Renaissance aesthetics. It
makes the painting look better and complex. The painting DaVinci made is full of symmetry, full
of beauty, that is why it is considered one of the best in the world.
The Last Supper is a masterpiece because the work DaVinci did was one of a kind.
Carmen Bambach says, Thus, Leonardo was keeping up with the innovative artistic technique

developed early in the Quattrocento (October 2002). In the Quattrocento, DaVinci used his art
skills combined with science to paint The Last Supper. He was able to use different types of
techniques to be able to make it stand out, such as facial expressions on the people, he used
different kind of shadings in the painting and different type of coatings. A quote written by
Bambach says Even in its current state, it is a masterpiece of dramatic narrative and subtle
pictorial illusions (Carmen Bambach). When DaVinci had created the painting, it had taken him
three years to complete. In his artwork, he used illusionism on the characters to stand out, their
facial expressions, a wonderful technique. Even though some of the painting has chipped off
during the years, it still is one of the kind.
The Last Supper is a masterpiece because it shows profound assertion of human values.
A quote from the Italian Renaissance states The scene we are viewing comes from the Gospel
accounts on the night before Christs Passion and Death when Christ and the apostles are
together in a room for supper (June 2012). Jesus had taken his apostles to a place to have a final
dinner, a place that one of his followers rented for the night. During this time he told them what
was going to happen after that night. He cared for everyone there who was at the dinner table, he
loved them as his own brothers. A quote from Art Bible says Thomas is angry, James Major
looks stunned and seems to be holding back Thomas and Philip( December 2015). All Jesuss
disciples are all have anger or shock to when Jesus announced a betrayer. They are all human so
they have feelings, a example of the human values. Just like how their values to follow and be
loyal to God.
Each individuals emotion in the painting makes The Last Supper a masterpiece. A
quote from historical world events states The brilliance of the piece is how Leonardo captures
the apostles reactions exactly, showing emotions ranging from shock to disbelief ( Historical

World Events). In the masterpiece every disciple is showing some kind of emotion: Anger, shock
and disbelief. They showed these emotions because Jesus had just told them someone will betray
him and turn him to the Roman Empire. Everyone at that dinner followed him, believed all his
teachings and spread it around the world. In a paragraph written by Art Bible it says We see
reactions of all, from left to right: Thomas is angry, James looks stunned and seems to be holding
back Thomas and Philip, Jude is hanging over the table, small money pouch in his right hand
(ArtBible). Jude is the only one who does not seem to be in shock, he mostly seems guilty. In the
picture he has the money he was paid to betray Jesus. They expected that none of them would
turn their back on Jesus, because they all followed him and loved him. Which each individual
facial expression, their emotion, this makes it a masterpiece.
The Last Supper is a masterpiece because retains lines of communication with the
immediate past. Dr Beth Harris and Dr. Steve Zucker said You can see that God is reaching for
a bread and for the wine, to show the Body and Blood ( Dr. Beth and Steve). In the history of
Christ, Jesus handed everyone of his disciples a cup of wine and bread. Wine representing the
blood of christ and the bread representing the body of christ (Matthew 26:27-28). In the
masterpiece, those elements are in the table representing this historic event from the past. UXL
biographies wrote that Millions from all over the world flock to see the fresco and appreciate
its significance ( UXL Biographies). Everyone comes to see the painting because its unique, it
was made by DaVinci. They also come to see it because it is a painting created to show the
history of Jesus past. In just the picture it is visible, not with words but by a single image. If the
story of The Last Supper is read, it would immediately come to the person's knowledge of what it
is.

The Last Supper is a masterpiece because the church and the artist had similar interests
on religious paintings. Historical world events said His painting of The Last Supper places
Judas among the apostles but leaning back in the shadow and reaching for the same piece of
bread that Jesus is about to take (Historic World Events). In order for DaVinci to paint this with
specific detail he probably received help. The help he had, most likely would have came from the
church. During this time the church was asking for paintings from famous and skilled artists.
Leonardo being one of them. Historical world events wrote In addition, he used references to
the number three, which represents the holy trinity (Historic World Events). He needed to have
information about the bible and the story of the last supper itself to be able to paint the painting.
The painting is created to represent what was happening at the moment when Jesus had revealed
the story of what was going to happen. Everything is so detailed, as the story from the bible. He
used the number three because its a holy sign representing the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit, so this is why you see many things in three in the painting.
In conclusion DaVincis painting showed that he was one of the greatest painters during
the Era of the Italian Renaissance. His painting of The Last Supper showed his work was
unique and of a kind. It has profound assertion of human values of each individuals emotion in
the painting. Also containing lines of communication with the immediate past, making this
painting a masterpiece. The Last Supper is significant because of its beauty in art, its well
detailed and unbelievable lasted as long as it had. It has rich history since the day it was painted
till this day, it has seen two world wars and survived its chipping. The painting began to chip
even after the painting was finished, and so it did during the years, many artists tried to restore it,
but ended up damaging it. Later in the 21st Century, artists began repairing it with advanced
technology. Now you can see the beauty of DaVinci and of the Italian Renaissance.

http://www.italianrenaissance.org/a-closer-look-leonardo-da-vincis-lastsupper/
http://www.artbible.info/art/large/150.html
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/leon/hd_leon.htm
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/highren-florence-rome/leonardo-da-vinci/v/leonardo-da-vinci-last-supper-149598