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The Last Supper: Tintoretto and Da Vinci

 

            Tintoretto's The Last Supper done on canvas was created 100 years after Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper fresco; sometime between 1592 and 1594. Tintoretto created this painting in the 16th century, during the Catholic Church Counter-Reformation in Northern Europe. Because of the time it was created (1495-1497), it exhibits styles encouraged by the Church such as appealing to the emotions by exaggerating and dramatizing the subject in the artwork. Da Vinci's work was created during the Italian Renaissance, which is when linear perspective was introduced - as shown in the work - to create space and depth. Both works are about the same important event in Christian history, when Jesus was having the Passover meal with his disciples before Christ was brought to trial and crucified. Although it's about the same general subject, there are several contrasts between the two in regards to form, content, styles, and subject matter. .
             Both artists illustrated naturalistic artwork. The individuals recreated in both paintings are realistic in that they reveal body form by using light and shadow. Even though both paintings would generally be considered representational, Tintoretto's includes nonrepresentational things - not visible in the real world. For example, the light emitting from the heads of the disciples and Christ, or the angel-like creatures in the smoke above them, are not things we see in reality. Leonardo da Vinci does not do this. In comparison, one can see that Christ is emphasized and centralized by both artists. Similarly, Judas (the disciple that betrays Jesus), does not emit the "light of understanding" like the others, and therefore stands out in Tintoretto's depiction. Leonardo da Vinci does not make any distinctions between the disciples. .
             When discussing form, you can find several differences between the two. For instance, Leonardo was very clean, cut and defined in his painting technique.


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