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March 3 2021
The last supper vs. the Calling of Mathew
Leonardo da Vinci’s wall painting, known as The Last Supper, was produced during the age of the high renaissance is one of the most outstanding productions of Christian Art; the mural painting depicts the arena from the final days of Jesus of Nazareth, as chronicled in the Gospel of John 13:21. On the other hand, The Calling of ST Mathew (1599-1600) was created by Caravaggio, acknowledged for his baroque style of painting popular in the 17th century. The painting portrays the occasion when Jesus of Nazareth influences Mathew to join him and be an apostle as recorded in (Mathew 9:9). These two works have significant similarities, but the differences outweigh the convergence, which shows that the two pictures are distinct from each other.
Beginning with Caravaggio, the upper part of the painting is in the dark; the characters are lit by a supply of light that is not noticeable. Christ, on the right end of the picture, points to one of the seated people. The scenery has life in it, especially when Mathew thinks Christ means him. The image’s composition is symmetrical, whereby every character is in motion, none of the objects and the people are symmetrical. The scene contains original attitudes; the fingers of Christ and Mathew depict the drama in the set.
In the Mural the last supper, Leonardo shows us characters in a rectangular room that terminates at three windows on the edge of the wall making the landscape setting visible. The scene is entirely symmetrical, with four apostles against each other and Christ at the center. Leonardo applied a pictorial device known as the aerial perspective that depicts a semblance of depth in landscape areas. A painterly device that shows horizon colors as dull and colorless. Concerning the composition, Christ is at heart among the disciples, and his body creates a triangular shape that is not overlapped by other characters.
Caravaggio applied dramatic tenebrism in the picture, which gave it an emotional vigor to the realism. Points, where the light shines on the characters are solid and vivid despite the painting being full of shadows that endeavor to veil sections of characters. Jesus t is entirely in obscurity with an omission of his gaze and his finger that points to Mathew directing to follow him. Leonardo, however, employs a different method to present his ideas to the viewers. Contrary to depending solely on artistic practices, he applied simple techniques that he discovered on the street, together with the sign language apparatus and oratorical gestures.
The last supper is a type of picture centered on Renaissance painting traditions in composition and perspective sections. It is ingenious to analyze the emotional displays and psychological states within a kind of naturalism that was strange in Italian Art. On the other hand, Caravaggio applied a dramatic modern twist of realism instead of the traditional pictures, which glorify forms of mannerisms. He used ordinary characters and then realistically painted them.
Christ is in the center of psychology for both pieces. In Leonardo’s the last supper, the narrative is from the gospel account on the night before the crucifixion of Christ. The drama being assisted is that Christ had just pointed that one of the apostles will betray him; the attitudes reveal shock and denial, which is a moment of great severity.
Similarly, in The Calling of St. Matthew, Levi is being called up by Jesus to become an apostle. The tax collector, adorned in conventional attires, is settled close to the table tallying some cash. The surrounding is a body of youths carrying weapons. Jesus is in the area with a supply of light and refers to Mathew, thus, influencing him to join his cause while Levi points to his heart, wondering whether it is him. The picture depicts a perception about time concerning prior and future activities about that moment.
The two paintings vary from each other, for instance, in the area of symmetry. Despite the divergence, they have notable similarities. For example, Christ is at the center of both depictions. These two works have significant similarities, but the differences outweigh the convergence, which shows that the two pictures are distinct from each other.
Works Cited
Adnyana, I. (2017). Analysis of the Baroque and Renaissance Aesthetics Paintings of “The Last Supper” by Caravaggio and Leonardo da Vinci. Panggung. 27. 10. 26742/panggung. v27i4.292.
“Introduction to Art, Renaissance and Baroque Art.” IvyPanda, 6 Nov. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/introduction-to-art-renaissance-and-baroque-art/. Accessed March 3. 2021.
New International Version. 2nd ed., vol. 4, Biblica, 1978.