



Darren McNeil



Pg1



The preservation of the last supper



  



The Last Supper painted by Leonardo Da Vinci is a beautiful painting that started in 1495 and was finished in 1498. This painting is in reference to a major religion in Christianity, and could be argued to be one of the most important moments in the bible. This painting must board the spaceship and be preserved because it shows Jesus and his disciples with like traits shown in the bible. Audiences can view this painting and almost get a brief summary of what happened, and how the disciples are shown in chapters found in the 4 gospels. Because of how many people this painting has impacted there have been many unsolved controversies and issues that have happened surrounding this painting. Major events that shape this great painting are the question is that John or Mary, why did someone cover up the feet of Jesus in the original, why is it deteriorating with time unlike the other reproductions by other artist.



Now when this painting was painted it was in the 1400’s the era of the kings and priest, so religion was as big as it is today back then. Da Vinci was asked to create this painting for Ludovico Sforza Duke of Milan. The Duke wanted this painting for the dining room when the monks paid a visit. The time and the task that I just previously mentioned correlate so there is nothing unusual there because there are thousands of replicas of this painting. There is however something that makes da Vinci’s version stand out, that being him giving personality to the disciples and Jesus in the painting. Each person painted is showing some kind of emotion or holding an object to show viewers about their character. Jesus sits in the middle and calmly tells everyone a friend will betray him while Judas the betrayer clutches his bag of silver and acts nonchalant about the foretelling.



In the time of the painting the people was believed to have loved the painting and it became famous instantly “This masterpiece became immediately famous and immensely popular with the public. It is said the French king so loved this work he asked to have the entire wall sawn off and taken to France!” this was found in the following site http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/supper.html.



People today still love the last supper painted by da Vinci today, even though it started to deteriorate a little bit and needed touching up. The original painting can still be seen in the da Vinci museum according to this article “The painting today is open for viewing by the general public. Visitors, however, have to book in advance and are not allowed to stay long”. http://www.abcgallery.com/L/leonardo/leonardo4.html.



I like this painting when I viewed it for the first time I could tell the da Vinci put a lot of effort into this painting, I love looking at all the little essentials he added. I found the artist made it easy to find the meaning in the painting. The man in the middle seems to be the only calm one while everyone else seems troubled. Jesus is the man calm after revealing to his disciples that someone would betray him, mentioning that you can now understand why the others seem troubled. While Jesus is calm and the rest are either confused or angry one other stands out. Judas the “betrayer” is leaning forward and kind of zoned off alone clutching a bag of what seems to be money. I think the bible has a few chapters that tell you things while da Vinci almost gives you a perfect summary in just a painting. That’s why I think it’s amazing and we should preserve it.



Da Vinci has May famous paintings and of those I love the last supper the most, but there is a close second the Mona Lisa is just as famous if not more famous then the last supper. The paintings are very different and the messages I think da Vinci is trying to send through them are completely different, strange how arguably his two best paintings messages differ so much. Mona Lisa where’s no jewelry, make up or flashy dresses just plain smile as to not follow traditions. This is a quality I love to have and wish more people would take up on, not following trends. This message about the Mona Lisa I found in this link http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/mona.html.



Mona Lisa is a beautiful painting that I admire a lot, but ultimately I am for taking the last supper board the spaceship for many reasons. To help construct painters in how to be better painters using the talents da Vinci did so long ago, to keep remembrance of all the different speculation and controversies surrounding the last supper, and to keep track of us as peoples evolution. This painting is still being sold today 600 years later so it has done its part in molding past generations I vote to keep it that way.



  

