Art

The Last Supper

Professor Nancy Shahani

Chantelle Henderson

4/6/2010

The Barnes Foundation is currently located in Merion, PA. It is one of the most visited art galleries. The Barnes Foundation is more, of a venue than a public museum. The Foundation is more of a venue, because Dr. Barnes wanted it to be more a teaching academy. He wanted it to be a teaching academy to teach the students, and so forth, more about the qualities of art. As he wanted the students to not only look at picture but what does the painting say to you when you look at it. How does it make you feel when you look at the painting, etc? In addition, he wanted to teach one how to really observe the meaning behind a piece of art work, how to see lines in a painting, the color schemes, the textures. Dr. Barnes was born on January 2, 1872 in Kensington, Philadelphia. In 1880, Barnes attended African American revival meetings with his mother, which then fathered his interest in African American art and social issues. The Barnes Foundation was originally a private property owned by Captain Joseph Lapsley Wilson, but after Br. Barnes built his own house, “Lauraston”, he purchased the private property. The reason he purchased this private property was to display his art collection. Furthermore, the way he displayed his art in the Barnes Foundation was uniquely different from other art collection. He arranged his artwork as “wall ensembles” to demonstrate for students the visual elements to demonstrate for students and viewers the visual elements that he felt was apparent in all forms of culture and history. One example would be The Last Supper done by an unknown artist before the renascences.

In this essay the last supper done by an unknown artist during the renaissance time and Leonardo da Vinci will discuss representation of what the book of Matthew ch.26 vs. 20-23 stating (Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me). When Jesus made this announcement that one of his twelve disciples would betray him the artist drew what they believed the last supper looked like. If you read the bible and comprehend it, you can tell from the painting the three important characters; were Jesus, Saint Paul, and Judas. Saint Paul is the youngest out of all the disciples. He is the closest one to Jesus, he would be sitting on the right side (when looking at the painting it’s usually the left side) of Jesus. Some critics would say that Saint Paul is also the one who looks more feminine than others. In the original painting Paul is wearing a light blue robe with a pink like cloth that’s hanging over his shoulder. There have been arguments that it’s Mary and not Saint Paul. Judas would be the one who is sitting by himself, or the one who not really talking to anyone like the others are. If you pay close attention you can see that he is the one reaching for the bread at the same time Jesus is, in his other hand he is holding the money sack. The money symbolizes greed that Judas had within him because the non believes of Christianity gave him money to betray Jesus.

The last supper done by an unknown artist, was not done like Leonardo da Vinci. The interesting thing about this painting is that it’s not done like other last supper paintings. It’s not done with the long table so one can get a far view. The unknown artist portrait was done with a round table with a blue strip going down the middle. During this time artist had to add objects to their portrait to give that allusion of not falling over. The blue strip was to be attached to the table at an angle so that it would visually of falling over, but it’s not. The ceiling in the painting is painted gold with black borders around it. In this portrait only Jesus has a halo over his head. His halo in this painting is different from other paintings, his halo looks like the crown that he had on his head that the people gave him before they put him on the cross. Saint Paul is a little boy while everyone is elderly, while Judas is more of an antisocial person. He is sitting with everyone but he has no interaction with everyone else.

The last supper done by Leonardo da Vinci measures 450 x 870 centimeters and covers the back wall of Santa Maria in Italy. Everyone is seated on one side of the table so that no would have their backs turned to the views. Jesus is sitting in the middle of the table and everyone else in groups of three. In the original painting Saint Paul is wearing a light blue robe with a pink cloth that’s hanging over his shoulder. There have been arguments that it could be Mary and not Saint Paul. His art work does not have bright colors, they are very plain (dual). Everyone in the painting except for Jesus and Saint Paul (also known as Mary) look younger (or not masculine). If you take time out to look at the painting you can see that Jesus and Paul are holding hands and forming two letters “M” or “V”. All the disciples have expressions on their face of confusion and are trying to figure out who Jesus could be talking about betraying him.

Judy Chicago’s interpretation of The Last Supper had a different perspective but all art work share the same meaning. Judy Chicago’s art doesn’t have that representation of people in her art work, she uses shapes instead. Unlike Leonardo da Vinci and the unknown artist she uses a large open triangular table. It is 48 feet on a side 39 place settings on a table 13 on each side. This is from a woman’s point of view. It has three big triangles at the end and thirteen tables on each side. On the table there are chain plates on top of a piece of cloth that are called runners. Each clothe and plate has its own coloring, symbol, and meaning behind it. The floor that the table is on has writing on it. The writing means all the other 999 women who played an important role in art history. The main tables are for the top women who made an important contribution to world history. They run from the Egyptian Queen to Georgia O’Keeffe. The variety that this art piece gives is so much color a meaning within the piece. It can be a religious topic as well as a political term. The triangle is a symbol of stability, and the painting shows that each peace had just that, it’s the unity in the work. How it was done by many women artist who was trying to make a point at feminine and wanted their work to be seen. They wanted to express that the male voice was only voice in art; there was a female voice as well.

The chaotic events of the 60's, including war and social change, seemed destined to continue in the 70's.  Major trends included a growing disillusionment of government, advances in civil rights, increased influence of the women's movement, a heightened concern for the environment, and increased space exploration.  Many of the "radical" ideas of the 60's gained wider acceptance in the new decade, and were mainstreamed into American life and culture.  Amid war, and social realignment, American culture flourished.  Indeed, the events of the times were reflected in and became the inspiration for much of the music, literature, entertainment, and even fashion of the decade.  

Judy Chicago is the instructor and co-coordinator of the project; it was a collaboration of man woman and very few men over a period of five years. It was a political statement about the supportive nature of female experience, as opposed to the frequently competitive nature of males. Research shows that the politics during Chicago’s time was that woman were not allowed to do anything, but have babies and be wives. During the 1960s many woman artists began to speak out against the discrimination they faced in their carriers. Woman’s work was just as good as men, but woman’s work was not taken seriously in artist groups. Galleries and museums collected more art from men than they did women. During the 1970s woman began to tack action towards the neglecting of woman’s art. Woman exist in this society, there is not just a man point of view on things. If art comes from the inside, as it must, then the art of men and woman artist is different.

The Dinner Party, an important icon of 1970s feminist art and a milestone in twentieth-century art. The Dinner Party comprises a massive ceremonial banquet, arranged on a triangular table with a total of thirty-nine place settings, each commemorating an important woman from history. The settings consist of embroidered runners, gold chalices and utensils, and china-painted porcelain plates with raised central motifs that are based on vulvar and butterfly forms and rendered in styles appropriate to the individual women being honored. The names of another 999 women are inscribed in gold on the white tile floor below the triangular table. This permanent installation is enhanced by rotating History Gallery exhibitions relating to the 1,038 women honored at the table. Wing one is a form of prehistory to the roman Empire, Wing two from the beginnings of Christianity to the reformation, and wing three from the American to the women’s revolution. During this time the triangle was an early symbol of strong feminism.

Some would say that Leonardo da Vinci inspiration of the last supper came from the unknown artist, seeing as no one claimed their work during that time of century, which is before the renaissance. During the high renaissance the three most famous artists were Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raphael Sanzio, and Leonardo da Vinci. He was one of the first to give a clear description of the camera obscure, an optical device that captures light images in much the same way as the human eye. No one is perfect Jesus is the only one who is, so Leonardo da Vinci inspiration was that Jesus was in the shape of a triangle. During his time triangle was a sign of stability. The interior is based on a one-point linear perspective system, with a single finishing point in the middle of the composition, behind Christ head. The others are irregular shapes meaning they are not perfect like Jesus. Jesus arms being stretched out are a sigh of acceptance, meaning he accepted, all the disciples having halos over their head except for Judas. He is the only one leaning back into shadow because he knows what he had done was wrong. Everyone is trying to figure out who would betray Jesus Judas goes and grabs the bread the same time as Jesus. Not thinking what Jesus meant about one grabbing the same dish as him would mean him and Jesus grabbing a piece of bread at the same time meant him. Some would say that the “V” shape formed with Jesus and Paul could mean that Leonardo da Vinci was trying to give a message of many about how it just might be Mary in this picture. Leonardo da Vinci had a lot of hidden messages within is art. The political problem that he faced was whether or not the person to Jesus right was Mary or Saint Paul. According to research the painting contains several references to the number three. This represents of the Christian belief in the Holy Trinity; The father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three windows behind Jesus, all the disciples are in groups of three, and the shape of Jesus (triangle). The unknown artist painting would have similar meanings expect Paul is a little boy and Judas is sitting at the end of the table with a money belt.

Some would say the last supper is both a scary and beautiful experiences. The painting illustrates one of the most important moments in Christianity. Research has shown that the last supper hidden meaning about portion of food that one is supposed to consume. When looking at the painting “The last supper” you can see that the size of the bread and wine are the same size as the heads of Jesus and his disciples. This shows that unlike people in the century after them, they didn’t over eat. Over the past millennium the portion size of food has gotten bigger. Plates sizes have increased by 66 percent, main course 69 percent and bread 23 percent. The increasing of the way we eat after the 15^th century. Also the three gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) discuss description of the last supper and how only bread and wine was the only food. Many artists have other food on their paintings, such as fish, lamb, pork and ell. The most famous one would be fish, which is symbolic for Christianity. A number of the disciples were considered fishermen. Jesus told them “to be fishers of men” along with many miracles with fish and bread. Over the time religion has changed. During the time of the unknown artists, Leonardo de Vinci, and Judy Chicago times Christianity was the only religion that people took part into. In this millennium there are many different religions.

When looking at the three wonderful works of art they all have similar meanings. They all have a meaning of spiritual elements or concepts. All three works of art have something to do with the same religion, Christianity. All have a symbol of the triangle in there work of art. The mathematics definition of a triangle is a plane figure formed by connecting three points not in a straight line by straight line segments; a three-sided polygon. In art the triangle means two things; stability, and two Father Son and Holy Spirit. The only difference would be Judy Chicago's painting because her painting had more than just a religious meaning. Her work of art was about fighting for women voices to be heard. She wanted the people in the world to know that woman has a voice just as well as men. She was tired of people just giving men all the credit with good art, leaving of women who made history period. If it had not been for Judy Chicago and many other’s woman’s voices would not have been heard.