Question

In the painting "THE LAST SUPPER" by De Vinci, discuss in a paragraph how the painting expresses the rebirth of the Classical past in terms of: naturalistic human forms in complex poses, emotional complexity, rational space, balance, calm, dignity of the human form, Humanistic values

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) The polymath Da Vinci traced the Vitruvian man, the last supper and other works that involved a certain depth about human contortion and figures. The artists of this time went beyond simply tracing out the human form but, began to trace it out with the purpose of expression. This means that, prior to the Renaissance, the known paintings by artists aimed at realistic and representational works of the human form.

The aim of the artist was to deliver a painting that was as close to the original figure as possible. However, in the Renaissance, artists began to make their imagination and their perceptions a part of their work. For instance, if Da Vince would imagine an apple to be purple, he would paint the apple purple simply because he would have to express his imagination about how he felt about apples.

Similarly, his painting of the Last Supper was basically what Da Vinci believed that the moment would have been like and how he imagined the details of that meeting to share bread and wine. Subsequently, the painting would reflect the moment through Da Vinci’s imagination. His imagination was expressed through his rendition of the human form, the poses, the light and shadow work, the colours that expressed balance, calm and other emotions etc.

His representation of the meal might have been far from the reality of it. Yet, the image is real to the painter because that is how his whimsical imagination viewed the moment. In turn, this makes the moment real to the viewer simply because Da Vinci painted his imagination to demonstrate his view to the viewer. Therefore, the human value is expressed through the dignity and value that the people had about Da Vinci’s imagination.