Protestant Reformation Depicted In Jacopo Tintoretto's The Last Supper

The Last Supper, a very religious, spiritual, and meaningful painting that holds a crucial role in our history. When we think The Last Supper, most of us think of the traditional painting which was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, that depicts Jesus Christ at a long and horizontal table alongside his disciples; illustrating influences of humanism, throughout the painting itself. Humanism places importance and emphasis on humans and their abilities, as opposed to divine, or supernatural phenomenon. However, there is another painting that goes by "The Last Supper" as well painted by Jacopo Robusti, whom is better known as Tintoretto. Throughout this version of The Last Supper, we are able to see how the Protestant Reformation influenced the change

The painting was commissioned for the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, Italy. The painting was done in the style of Mannerism. This is an oil on canvas painting; which resulted in a far more durable and higher quality painting, as opposed to Da Vinci's. At first glance, we are drawn to a luminous halo, automatically allowing the viewer to identify the man as Jesus Christ, using him as a focus point, like Da Vinci had done, as well. His disciples also have halos around them, however, less luminous; all but Judas, who would soon betray Jesus, have halos. We are able to distinguish Judas in both paintings; in Da Vinci’s, Judas is clutching on to a small black pouch, and in Tintoretto’s, Judas lacks a halo. The only source of major light comes from Jesus's halo and a lantern that hangs from the ceiling. Surrounding the lantern, and other parts of the ceiling, are angels. This had changed from the humanistic approach, where divine or supernatural subject matter would be steered clear of, or rejected. There is a lack of structure that goes on in this painting; the table is at an angle, diagonally, rather than centered and horizontally like that of Da Vinci's. It is said that the scene being depicted is when Jesus offers his disciples himself as bread and wine as his blood. Apart from Jesus and his disciples at the table, there are other things going on; for example, there is a woman kneeling down on the floor reaching into a bucket, as a curious cat looks into it. To her side, there's a man and woman serving food. These elements seem out of place, however, they make it an actual real-life event; Reformation art gave a emphasis to common people and the action of partaking in everyday things such as, eating, cleaning, or cooking. When we have a family gathering, the adults are usually chatting, the kids are playing, dogs are running around, these random things create a real scenario.