The Last Supper

Artist: Leonardo Da Vinci
Title: The Last Supper
Date: 1498
Medium: Oil Painting
Provenance: Milan, Italy
Source: smarthistory.khanacademy

-The main, continuous line is the line on the front hat makes up the last supper table. It connects all the disciples, including Jesus across in a horizontal manner.
-The eye goes immediately to Jesus in the center of the table, reaching his hands up. Secondly, the viewer looks at the individual disciples and how they are reacting to each other.
-The disciples take a triangular shape and have robes that drape across their shoulders freely.
-The vibrant tones that Da Vinci originally painted with faded but I imagine they were bright reds, light browns, baby blues, and pine greens. These colors came from the clothes and skin of the Jesus and His disciples. The artist used an analogous color scheme by bending red, orange and light hints of brown together.
-The table unifies the entire painting and brings a common element in the varying figures.

Interpretation:This painting was restored several times and is still in a very fragile state. The lines drag the eyes to different corners of the picture to provide movement and show a pattern with the disciplines. The pattern of the 12 men leaning outward, away from Jesus show emotion. This is was the moment Jesus announced that there was a traitor that would turn Jesus into the authorities and betray him. The painting shows signs of wear, but the piece is mean toto look ancient and of a different time. The balance of shapes in the disciplines effects my view of the entire piece and helps the painting express its intent.

Judgement: I loved the way the human figure were created. Jesus had his hands beckoning as he announced that there was a traitor among them. I feel drawn to the subject because this is a very pivotal movement in the Bible because it is the "beginning of the end" for Jesus. The artist created a masterpiece that has taken hundreds of years to repair and fix.