Apostles react with horror, anger and disbelief
Gestures of upset and shock
Fig. 22.4 and Fig. 22.5 (above left and right)
Leonardo’s picture tells the story in a silent but highly dramatic language of gestures and expressions
The vanishing point
Fig. 22.6 (left) The figure of Jesus represents the vanishing point for all persective lines
chaos when Jesus announced, ‘One of you will betray me.’ In a superb psychological study of human emotion, the apostles reel in confusion and self-doubt and react with denial and disbelief (Fig. 22.3).
Composition
Leonardo used the golden ratio or ‘divine proportion’ in the design and architectural features of The Last Supper.
Golden ratio:A mathematical ratio used to work out aesthetically pleasing proportions in composition. It is also called the golden section or golden mean. By applying correct mathematics, exact proportions can be calculated in any number of geometric forms, including circles, triangles, pyramids, prisms and polygons.
To solve the problem of the long composition, he arranged the apostles in groups and connected them with gestures.
Peter, with a knife clutched in his hand, leans forward to John and whispers in his ear (Fig. 22.4). This action manages to isolate Judas from the group and pushes him out in a pose opposite to that of Jesus with Peter’s knife at his back. One seems to say, ‘Lord is it I?’ and clasps his hands to his breast (Fig. 22.5).
Framed by the window, Jesus is serene and dignified. With hands placed calmly on the table, his pyramidal shape is in the exact centre of the composition.
Perspective
The picture was painted for the refectory (dining room). The sharp linear perspective creates an
260 APPRECIATING ART: SECTION 2, PART 3
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