21 oct 2008

CORRECTION of An Analysis of Leonardo's Last Supper

It is of common knowledge that artistic paintings are rare, complex and, in a word, indeible. And one of the most masterful painters in history is Leonardo Da Vinci, whose paintings and studies are admired and renowned all around the globe. “The Last Supper”, one of Leonardo’s most enigmatic works, enhances the mystery of the last dinner of Jesus Christ, his last meeting with his apostles… and supposedly, of Mary Magdalene herself, who for some time now has been rumored to have been Jesus Christ’s lover, due to reference on Dan Brown’s bestseller, “The DaVinci Code”. However, this is not the one thing to see in the famous Leonardo.When you look at the painting, you are instantly seduced by the beauty within, by the enigma of God’s son’s life, by the genius skill of its prodigious master. The colors, so bright; the scene, so stunningly beautiful; the detail, so sublime. Product of the most wonderful artist’s loving hands, of only the most precise instruments, “The Last Supper” shines with all her splendor in the Convent of Saint Marie della Grazie, Milan. […]

The painting was created 'round 1498 in a mixed techinque. Leonardo originaly wants to mix all three techniques (oil, tempera and fresco) into it, but it went all wrong in the end, and so it has been restored many times, for the paint peeled away from the wall over the years. It covers an extention of 460 x 880 cm of the Convent's reflectory. It has a linear axis (consistent on the table), a vanishing point, and presents a symetrical composition.

ICONOGRAPHICAL ATTRIBUTES:
  • In the background plane- Four doors->three windows->four doors.
  • Four groups of three people each.
  • Number 3- Holy Trinity; Sacred Family; the first perfect number (with a beggining, a middle and an end) representing Divinity.
  • Number 4- Four are the Gospels, the Seasons, the Cardinal Directions, Aristotle's Elements (fire, water, earth, wind), the "body's humors" or vital fluids, representing the Earthly Matters.
  • Four groups of three people (appart from Jesus).
CHARACTERS (a true, non-DaVinci-Code based):
From left to right:
  • Bartholomew
  • James Minor
  • Andrew
  • Judas
  • Peter
  • John
  • Jesus
  • Thomas
  • James Major
  • Phillip
  • Mathew
  • Thaddeus
  • Simon
[…]When looking at a work of art, specially a Leonardo, it becomes quite apparent that simple, empty words cannot define it. No one in the world is qualified to grade a work of art universally. Only the heart is able to feel the unfeeling, to see the unseen. Every time you look around, wonder comes to your eyes; but only your heart is able to see there is much more to it than paint, that there is much more to it than images. That there is so much more to it than a piece of parchment.

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