Renaissance Blog Post

I chose to evaluate Leonardo Da Vinci’s, The Last Supper.

            This painting has a lot of straight lines in it. The table is flat, and not exactly in the middle, but seems to be about 2/3 of the page down. The paintings on the side are perfectly lined up on the wall. The ceiling also has straight lines on it, almost like a checker board. Although some of the people are standing, and some sitting, they still seem to be in a straight line. Even the ones standing are only centimeters taller than the people sitting. The windows in the back are also straight. The only curves, or arches are the one in the front, and the one in the back. And these two arches are exactly matched up with each other. It is very evident that Da Vinci wanted this painting to have a lot of alignment. There are a lot of colors in this painting, but only a few dominant ones. The main colors that really stand out are, red, blue, and white. I think this is because the main things in the paining the tablecloth, and Christ, are red, white, and blue. There are other colors, but these are the main ones. Da Vinci uses depth a lot in this painting. The painting hung up on the wall get smaller and smaller as they go down. The background of the windows is very small. The ceiling also adds a lot of depth to the painting. Another thing that Leonardo uses is, chiaroscuro, in which the contrast between light and shadow shows how people and things look to us in the real world. This makes the painting look very real.

            This painting is a strong representation of the Renaissance time period. The most dominant feature of this painting, portraying this time, is the way it blends math and science with creativity. Da Vinci aligned almost everything in this painting, which I’m sure took some mathematical calculations, but he also adds a lot of creativity to the painting. The most creative aspect of this painting is how Da Vinci uses the people in the painting to skew the viewer to the main part of the painting. The people in this painting are looking and pointing directly at Christ. This helps the reader know what the focus is of the painting, and understand what is going on.

            This painting is amazing, and is an icon to painters around the world today. It set the stage for new paintings, and helped bring a lot of new concepts to the painting world. Da Vinci’s new creation of chiaroscuro changed the way people painted. And without this painting, chiaroscuro might not even be present in the world today.