=Questions to arouse interest.= What does this picture represent? Where
do the figures seem to be? Why do you suppose the artist placed all his
figures on one side of the table? What makes you think the disciples are
excited? How many do not look excited? Which is the central figure? How
is our attention directed toward the central figure? How does the
position of the hands aid in this? Which one is Judas? Why do you think
so? Which one is John? What expressions do you see upon the different
faces?
=Original Picture=: Convent Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy.
=Artist=: Leonardo da Vinci (lā´ō när´dō dä vēn´chē).
=Birthplace=: Near Florence, Italy.
=Dates=: Born, 1452; died, 1519.
=The story of the picture.= Beatrice, the good and beautiful wife of the
Duke of Milan, had visited most of the many convents in Italy, but her
favorite among them all was the Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. When
the great dining room of this beautiful convent was being finished, the
monks felt that it lacked nothing except a suitable decoration for the
end wall; so they appealed to the duke and his wife for at least one
fine painting by the most popular artist of the time, Leonardo da Vinci.
And so it came about that Leonardo began this great work, which was to
be his masterpiece. It was so placed that the monks seated at their
meals could see the long table as if it were in their own room and but
slightly raised above the rest.
Many stories are told of the artist while working on this great
painting. Often he worked from early morning until dusk, quite
unconscious of the flight of time, of his meals, or of the hushed voices
of the monks and visitors who came to watch him paint. Then again he
would not paint for several days, but would sit for hours quietly
studying his painting. The prior of the monastery began to think he
would never finish the picture, and at last he appealed to the duke to
speak to Leonardo about it. The artist told the duke that while he sat
thinking he was doing his best work, for it was necessary for him to
have a complete picture in his mind before he could paint one. Of course
he was told to do it in his own way. He completed the painting in two
years, which was an unusually short time for so great a masterpiece,
when we consider how much study was necessary, and that the figures were
larger than life. Leonardo also had other work which had to be done.
Mr. William Wetmore Story has given us the prior’s complaint to the duke
in verse, from which we have selected these extracts:
“’Tis twenty months since first upon the wall
This Leonardo smoothed his plaster; then
He spent two months ere he began to scrawl
His figures, which were scarcely outlined, when,
Seized by some mad whim, he erased them all.
* * * * * * * *
“Ah! there he is now—Would your Highness look
Behind that pillar in the farthest nook?
That is his velvet cap and flowing robe.
See how he pulls his beard, as up and down
He seems to count the stones he treads upon!
’T would irk the patience of the good man Job
To see him idling thus his time away,
As if our Lord and Judas were both done,
And there were naught to do but muse and stray
Along the cloisters. May I dare to pray
Your Highness would vouchsafe one word to say;
For when I speak he only answers me,
‘I am not idle, though I seem to be.’
* * * * * * * *
“‘Not idle! Well, I know not what you do!
You do not paint our picture, that I see.’
To which he said, “A picture is not wrought
By hands alone, good Padre, but by thought.
In the interior life it first must start,
And grow to form and color in the soul;
While I seem idle, then my soul creates;
While I am painting, then my hand translates.’”
It is said that Leonardo threatened to paint the face of the complaining
prior as the Judas in his picture, but we know that he did not.
He has chosen for his subject the moment following the words of Christ
to his disciples: “One of you shall betray me.” On their faces he has
shown the surprise, consternation, and distress which would naturally
follow the realization that there is a traitor among them.
We recognize at once the calm, beautiful face of the figure in the
center as that of the Christ. Leonardo spent more time on this head than
on any other part of the picture. He made a great many sketches, and in
each he tried to represent Christ as looking at us, but all his efforts
failed to satisfy him. At last he consulted a friend, who advised him to
give up trying to paint the expression of the eyes, but to represent
Christ looking down; and this seems to have been the last touch needed
to make the face perfect.
On both sides we see the disciples in four groups of three each. If we
study any one of these groups we will find it complete in itself, yet
all four groups are held together by the expression on the faces and
especially by the position of the hands. So wonderfully have the hands
been painted that some critics have spoken of this picture as “a study
of hands.”
If we begin at the left-hand side of the picture we see Bartholomew
standing at the end. In his astonishment, he has risen so quickly that
his feet are still crossed as they were when he was seated. He looks
toward Christ as if he thought his ears must have deceived him.
Next to Bartholomew is James (the less), who reaches behind Andrew to
touch the arm of Peter and urge him to ask the meaning of it all.
Andrew’s uplifted hands express horror, while his face is turned
anxiously toward the Master. Peter is greatly excited, but feels that
John is the one to ask the question; so we see him leaning toward John,
his hand resting on John’s shoulder as he eagerly urges him to ask who
it is of whom Christ spoke. In his right hand Peter grasps his knife
ready to defend his Lord.
Between Peter and John we see the traitor Judas, vainly attempting to
appear innocent and unconcerned. As he leans forward, he clasps his
money bag tighter, but at the first sudden movement of alarm he has
overturned the salt upon the table. It is said that after the face of
the Christ, Leonardo found that of Judas the most difficult to paint. It
was hard to imagine a man so wicked.
The gentle, sorrowful face of John seated next to the Christ is in
strong contrast to the startled, guilty look on the dark face of Judas.
To the right of the Master, we see James (the great), whose arms are
outstretched as he looks at the Master and eagerly asks, “Lord, is it
I?”
Just behind James is Thomas, with one finger lifted threateningly as if
he must know who the traitor is that he may cast him out at once.
Philip, standing beside James, places his hands on his heart as he says,
“Thou knowest, dear Lord, it is not I.” The three disciples at the end
of the table are in earnest conversation. Matthew points with his arms
to the Saviour as if explaining to the elder disciple, Simon, what has
just been said. His face asks a question and expresses wonder, while
that of Thaddeus, next to him, is worried and troubled. Simon holds his
hands out and looks appealingly to Christ for an explanation.
The table itself was like that used in the dining room of the convent;
even the tablecloth and china were the same. Three windows form a
background for the picture, and the middle one frames the face of the
Christ.
But the picture was painted in tempera upon damp walls, and it soon
began to fade and even to peel off. If it had not been for an Italian
who made an engraving of this picture shortly after it was finished, we
should have little idea of the real beauty of the original. At one time
the convent was used as a stable, and a door was cut right through the
middle and lower part of the picture. Naturally, in the course of time,
the picture lost most of its original splendor. Many attempts were made
to preserve it, but without success. Then, not many years ago, an artist
was found who succeeded in restoring the picture to some degree of
perfection.
The painting is twenty-eight feet long, and the figures are all larger
than life.
=Questions to help the pupil understand the picture.= Where is the
original painting? Why was this convent chosen? In what room is it? In
what way did it become a part of the furniture of the room? How long did
it take Leonardo to paint this picture? Why did the prior feel so
anxious? What reply did the artist make to him? What does the picture
represent? Which is the central figure? How is it made to appear the
most important? How are the disciples arranged? Which is John? Which is
Judas? What has Christ just said that causes such excitement? What
expressions do you see on the different faces? What can you say of the
composition of this picture? How do the hands of each disciple express
his feelings? What has become of this painting? About how large is it?
=To the Teacher=: