Leonardo's Last Supper: Composition, Style, and Symbolism

Introduction: A Different Kind of Last Supper

Leonardo's Last Supper (1495–1498) does something very different from other Renaissance portrayals of this scene from the Gospel. Unlike Andrea del Castagno's or Domenico Ghirlandaio's versions, Leonardo's is at once more earthly — neither Christ nor the Apostles wear halos — and more chaotic than the others, yet at the same time it is substantially more divine and imposing in its stark simplicity. This paper traces the compositional, stylistic, and symbolic development of the story of the Last Supper as told by Leonardo da Vinci in his masterpiece of the same name.

Composition and Perspective

The first thing to note about the composition of Leonardo's Last Supper is the distinct separation between the space occupied by Christ and the Apostles and the space of the viewer. They exist together — cramped, huddled, literally on top of one another — on one side of a long table covered like an altar by white linen. The viewer, on the other hand, is left standing and looking up at the painting, outside the perspective Leonardo has constructed. The vanishing point passes through Christ, whose head sits at the center of the picture, yet the line of perspective itself passes over the head of the viewer in real life when visiting the actual monastery where the painting resides. The painting therefore immediately demands that the viewer look up — that he elevate himself to the subject before him.

Leonardo thus requires that the viewer be lifted in order to contemplate the eternal mysteries depicted. It is a practical yet necessary point underlying the artistic expression: the viewer must work — must climb — to begin to participate in what is taking place. And even then, the line of demarcation remains: the table and the arrangement of the Apostles keep the viewer from actually entering the painting's space. This is a deliberate and spiritually significant choice ("The Last Supper"). The room depicted functions like a church's sanctuary, and the table resembles an altar rail separating the laity from the sacrament being consecrated by Christ — his Body and Blood present under the appearances of bread and wine.

Dual Narrative: The Eucharist and the Betrayal

The sacrament of transubstantiation — in which Christ declares the bread and wine to be his Body and Blood, known in the Church as the Holy Eucharist or Communion — is depicted in the painting as Christ reaches out with his left hand toward a loaf of bread and with his right toward a glass of wine. At the same time, the Apostles react with consternation and confusion, leaving the viewer to wonder whether they are responding to the mystery of the Eucharist or to something else from the Gospel: namely, Christ's declaration that one of them is about to betray him.

The reactions of the Apostles seem to justify the latter interpretation just as the movement of Christ's hands seems to justify the former. In fact, both narrative points are being depicted simultaneously. The painting offers multiple levels of narrative within a single composition, inviting the viewer to meditate on several ideas expressed all at once ("Leonardo da Vinci"). This layered storytelling is one of the qualities that distinguishes Leonardo's work from earlier depictions of the same scene.

Conclusion: Leonardo's Legacy and Lasting Impact

Overall, Leonardo's work is unique because it takes one of the most important scenes in the Gospel and renders it in humanistic terms while weaving multiple narratives together, so that a degree of mystery about the exact sequence of events remains open for debate. At best, the painting challenges the viewer to meditate on multiple lines of activity and contrasting themes while contemplating the depth, structure, and manifestation of the divine in a work that is deeply rooted in the human.

Leonardo's Last Supper thus builds on the works of earlier painters by moving beyond the formalism of the Byzantine model into an expressive, humanistic mode that places emphasis on realism. In a sense, Leonardo also foreshadows the coming Baroque, since the composition focuses on dramatic tension and explores several different ideas through the reactions of the Apostles as Christ presents mysteries that are profoundly difficult to bear. The viewer is asked to bear this openness equally — attempting to lift himself to the level of the painting yet still feeling blocked, like a layman at the sanctuary railing, able to see what is happening at the altar where the Eucharist is made present. Leonardo's table in the Last Supper is a symbol of the altar, and the Eucharistic miracle is apparent amidst the swirling chaos of betrayal. Thus, Leonardo transforms a long-standing ritual of the Church into a dramatic, tension-filled situation that the Renaissance Christian could readily recognize and be moved by, while reflecting on the various symbolic, stylistic, and compositional qualities of the work.

Works Cited

"The Last Supper." Khan Academy. Web. 2 Oct. 2016.

"Leonardo da Vinci." The Met. Web. 2 Oct. 2016.

"Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper." Italian Renaissance. Web. 2 Oct. 2016.