The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci is the first great figure composition of the High Renaissance and the definitive interpretation of its theme. Jesus and his twelve disciples are seated at a long table that is parallel to the picture plane. The room is spacious and peaceful, and Christ has his arms spread in disposed trust . The rest of the group is in intense and dramatic excitement, with their hands out in shock and question at Jesus’ words. The viewer can just feel the tense excitement sweeping

The use of symbolism in both Da Vinci’s and Tintoretto’s Last Supper is important to the interpretation of each piece. Da Vinci is the first known artist to place Judas, the disciple who betrays Jesus, on the same side of the table as Christ. This subtly symbolizes the trust that Jesus shared with his followers, and it is more realistic. By placing Christ in the center, as the focal point, with orthagonals leading towards him, Da Vinci creates a 3-D/pyramid effect with Christ that shows his still and stable calmness and poise amongst the distraught group. He also places Jesus inside the second window, symbolizing Jesus’ position as Christ, the son in the Christian trinity. The group of twelve is split into groups of threes, symbolizing the trinity, and supporting the symmetry. Tintoretto’s Last Supper uses symbolism very differently. He places genre figures throughout the painting, such as the waitresses, to ground the viewer in reality. This may act as his way of making the piece more realistic or closer to personal experience and therefore, more comfortable. Yet, he also places angels flying into the room, throwing off this grounded feeling but giving a nice balance of both heaven and Earth.

Leonardo da Vinci’s goal of painting not only the man, but the intention of his soul is shown in his Last Supper; on

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