''The Last Supper'' (1445–1450) is a

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

by the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

artist

Andrea del Castagno Andrea del Castagno () or Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla (; – 19 August 1457) was an Italian painter from Florence, influenced chiefly by Masaccio and Giotto di Bondone. His works include frescoes in Sant'Apollonia in Florence and the painte ...

, located in the refectory of the convent of

Sant'Apollonia Sant'Apollonia was a former Benedictine convent, founded in 1339, just north of the center of Florence, in Italy. Some of the remaining structures are demarcated on three sides by via Ventisette Aprile, via Santa Reparata, and Via San Gallo, locat ...

, now the ''Museo di Cenacolo di Sant'Apollonia'', and accessed through a door on Via Ventisette Aprile at the corner with Santa Reparata, in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, region of Tuscany. The painting depicts Jesus and the Apostles during the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

, with Judas, unlike all the other apostles, sitting separately on the near side of the table, as is common in depictions of the

Last Supper in Christian art The Last Supper of Jesus and the Twelve Apostles has been a popular subject in Christian art, often as part of a cycle showing the ''Life of Christ''. Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art date back to early Christianity and can be seen ...

. Sant'Apollonia was a Benedictine convent of cloistered nuns, and Castagno's fresco was not publicly known until the convent was suppressed in 1866:

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

, for example, seems not to have known of the painting. Thus its exclusively female audience should be considered in analyzing the work. Castagno painted a large chamber with life-sized figures that confronted the nuns at every meal. The fresco would have served as a didactic image and an inspiration to meditation on their relationship with Jesus. Painted with a careful attention to naturalistic detail—a sense of real space and light, seemingly tangible details of the setting, and lifelike figures—the work must have spoken forcefully of the continued significance of the Eucharistic meal in their own world.

Description

Although the Last Supper is described in all four Gospels, Castagno's fresco seems most closely aligned with the account in the Gospel of John, in which eleven of the apostles are confused and the devil "enters" Judas when Jesus announces one of his followers will betray him.Eve Borsook, ''The Mural Painters of Tuscany from Cimabue to Andrea del Sarto'', 2nd Ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980, p. 87-89. Saint John's posture of innocent slumber neatly contrasts with Judas's tense, upright pose and exaggeratedly pointed facial features. Except for Judas, Christ and his apostles, including the recumbent St John, all have a translucent disc of a halo above their heads. The fresco is notable for its detail and naturalism. The colors of the apostles' robes and their postures contribute to the balance of the piece. The highly detailed marble walls hearken back to Roman "First Style" wall paintings, and the pillars and griffon statues recall Classical sculpture and ''

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

'' painting. The halos are depicted in perspective. The ''Last Supper'' was a major work by Andrea del Castagno and his studio. The quality of figures and details is uneven; the right hand of St Peter appears to be replaced by a left hand. Some figures have a remote detachment from emotion, typical of early

High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...

style, and exemplified by the style of

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca i ...

. This work, located in the refectory of a convent of cloistered nuns, may have been seen by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

before he painted his own far more emotional

. The fresco is in an excellent state of conservation, in part because it remained behind a plaster wall for more than a century. The contemporary fresco by Castagno on the top register, not protected, shows more degradation, and depicts the ''Crucifixion'', flanked by the ''Resurrection'' and ''Burial of Christ''.

References

{{coord, 40.778669, N, 11.256569, E, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title 1445 paintings 1446 paintings 1447 paintings 1448 paintings 1449 paintings 1450 paintings Paintings by Andrea del Castagno del Castagno Paintings in Florence