Compare and contrast

The essay is a comparison and a contrast between Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper with Tintoretto’s Last Supper. For the first paragraph, it is an introduction of the painting which includes the title, the artists, the dates, measurements and the mediums used of the painting. The second paragraph focuses more on the comparison and contrast of the subject matter. It talks about “ who”, “ what” and “ where” of the painting. It talks more on about the people, places or things in the artwork. It talks about the things they share in common and their differences. For the third paragraph, it talks about the comparison and contrast of the form. The form is the description of what can be seen in the painting such as the color, geometric forms, lines, contrast of dark and light colors. It talks more on the appearance of whatever that can be seen within the artwork. For the last paragraph, it talks about the feeling of the writer about the paintings.
The painting entitled “ The Last Supper” was originally painted in the 15th century by Leonardo da Vinci during the Renaissance period. It is a piece of artwork painted directly on a wall in Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan with a measurement of 450 by 870 centimeters or 15 feet by 29 feet. Leonardo da Vinci painted the mural on a dry wall which means that it is not a true fresco. He sealed the stone wall with a layer of pitch, gesso and mastic then paint onto the sealing layer with tempera or in a permanent fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium. In the year 1518 to 1594, Jacobo Tintoretto painted his own version of “ The Last Supper” in San Giorgo Maggiore, Venice. He painted on oil on canvass with a measurement of 12 feet by 18 feet, 8 inches.
The paintings painted by da Vinci and Tintoretto are a group of people in a room particularly Jesus Christ and his twelve disciples. In Tintoretto’s painting there are other people that can be seen such as the servers and many flying images on the both sides of the top but in da Vinci’s painting only the portraits of Jesus and his disciples or apostles. Both of the paintings portray the reaction shown by each apostle when Jesus said that one of them would betray him. The effect of his words leads them to a visible response. All of the twelve apostles have different reactions to the news, with different levels of anger and shock. In da Vinci’s painting, he grouped the apostles into four groups of three united by their posture and gesture, with Jesus in the middle. Jesus is shown as perfectly calm while the Apostles are in an obvious state of reaction. He seats the diners on one side of the table but he excluded Judas by placing him alone on the opposite side of the table from the other eleven disciples and Jesus or placing a circle of light shown around all the disciples except Judas. He instead has Judas lean back into shadow. In Tintoretto’s painting, the surrounding is almost in a bar-like place, and the picture is not as detailed and thorough as da Vinci’s. The apostles have their individual reactions portrayed. He places the table to the left hand side of the painting. The facial expressions which Leonardo relies in his painting are almost totally missing instead the gestures of the apostles are arranged so as to contribute most to the general motion but not so as to be most expressive emotionally. In his painting, the exact number of the disciples is not reflected. Judah is not identified in this painting clearly. There is also a big halo of light on the head of man who is Jesus Christ.
The first and most obvious difference between the two is the color. The work done by da Vinci is bright with lighter colors and you can tell it takes place during the day. Christ’s head is at the center of the composition, framed by a halo- which is also the vanishing point toward which all lines of the perspective move towards a place from different directions. The lines of perspective meet in Christ’s right eye. He placed three windows in the background with the largest directly behind the head of Christ to focus the eye on Christ. A formal feel is created with geometric shapes, mostly rectangles in shape. Movements are up and down like waves, back and forth from the central figures on both sides of the painting and then back again. The power of its effect comes from the striking contrast in the attitudes of the apostles as response to Christ. On the other hand, in Tintoretto’s work, the lines of the table, the pattern on the floor and the wood in the ceiling create a linear perspective that makes the painting stand out compared to the work of da Vinci. His work is dark-lightened only by fire and the time of the day is not obvious. He uses bright colors and he paints Christ as source of light that illuminates the rest of the canvas from the center. Composition takes on a pyramidal shape and triangles point toward the central figure.
For me, da Vinci’s version has no passion in it, the scene is solemn, without much emotion but in Tintoretto’s work, it is almost exploding with so much emotion. I think Tintoretto did just as well as da Vinci.
Reference
Art and the Bible. (2005). The Last Supper. Retrieved October 17, 2011. from: http://www. artbible. info/art/last-supper. html