To artists in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it was necessary to give proper deference to notable occurrences such as the Last Supper. Another artist, besides Leonardo da Vinci, Jacopo Tintoretto took upon the challenge of recreating the Last Supper. Both of their paintings are very similar in subject matter, but they differ in composition, symbolism, and the choice of narrative moment.
Jacopo Robusti, another well-known artist in the Renaissance era, was born in the year 1518 in Venice. He was called the “Tintoretto,” because his father was a dyer, “tintore.” No one knows how Tintoretto got his talent and skills, but he was gifted in his talent to finish his work quickly. Yet, he was also known and criticized for his unfinished works. Except for visiting Mantua around 1580, Tintoretto stayed in Venice, where his dramatic, colorful Mannerist style eventually dominated. “The term Mannerism, comes from the Italian maniera, or "style," in the sense of painting "in the style" of another painter.” His paintings mostly consisted of religious paintings which showed many unexpected viewpoints and striking perspective with the tint of everyday life into it.
The Last Supper by Tintoretto is a beautiful Mannerist-style painting in which the painter creates a revolutionary type of composition. Compared to the surface plane in da Vinci’s painting, this piece has a diagonal plane and the viewers can easily notice Jesus’ position because of the light around his head. Each of the disciples and others in the picture looks much blossomed in the light through the darkness of the background. The two brightest areas, Jesus and Judas Iscariot, could be a bit of confusion because viewers would question why the painter would put a halo on Judas, when he is the betrayer. He also places genre figures throughout the painting, such as the waitresses, to ground the viewer in reality. He even adds a cat into his very religious painting. By adding these figures that had nothing to do with the story of Jesus and his twelve disciples, he was adding more comfort and giving the sense of reality. Yet, he also places angels flying into the room, throwing off this genre feeling but giving a nice balance of both heaven and Earth.
Both men, da Vinci and Tintoretto, chose to illustrate the biblical story but with different methods. Leonardo da Vince chose to express the expressions on those of the twelve disciples face expressing fear, doubt, protestation, rage, and love in a beautiful symmetry. Tintoretto, on the other hand, chose to use the same event, but in a different light. Instead of the story of betrayal by Judos, he drew the first communion. Although the painting is very expressive and exciting, the subject is of a joyous festival. Tintoretto is a true Mannerist. He decided upon a different scene and brought it alive with colors, composition, and movement. His fascination with color is revealed, while he creates uncertain emotions in the viewer through symbols, lights, and shadows. Both of these skilled artists represent the time period they were in, but also their ability to maneuver and control art to express their true purpose in their own eyes.
The second sets of images that define the time period were done by Nicolas Poussin and Francois Boucher. Nicolas Poussin, born in 1594, was a French artist. He represented the Baroque period, the period in art history from about 1600 to about 1750. “The development of the Baroque reflects the period's religious tensions (Catholic versus Protestant); a new and more expansive world view based on science and exploration; and the growth of absolutist monarchies.” His interest in art started when a painter, Quentin Varin, came to his village and actually painted couple of series for the Church in 1612. In search for better understanding of art, he left his hometown and took off to Rouen and then to Paris. After having difficulties finding a great teacher to study under, he ended up under a minor artist. Having difficulty with everything, he ended up going back to his hometown. After a few years, he took a different road and head off for Rome in search for a better mentor. There, he encountered Giambattista Marino, the Italian court poet to Marie de Médicis, who helped him out with his Art. With his help, Poussin was able to find something that interested him to draw, mythological drawings
illustrating Ovid's Metamorphoses.
One of his known paintings, Cephalus and Aurora, is told in Book 7 of Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'. This Roman text had inspired artists for centuries because of its colorful portrayal of Greek myths. Cephalus was an Athenian hero who usually hunted deer in the woods. He met a beautiful woman while hunting for food and immediately fell in love with Procris and married her. One day while he was on his daily hunt, he meets Aurora, the Goddess of Dawn. She usually fell in love with any mortal men in sight. So she captured Cephalus and brought him back home with her, but Cephalus kept his vows and was very faithful to his wife. Aurora gives up and returns him back home but secretly planning for vengeance. She caused a spirit of jealousy to infect their marriage. This ended up with the accidental death of Procris with the spear of Cephalus.
With this famous Greek myth as the base of his painting, Poussin portrayed the scene visually in his painting Cephalus and Aurora drawn in the year 1630. It is a very interesting painting because the viewers can see why Cephalus refuses since the angelic infant is holding the symbolism of rejection, the portrait of his wife. He uses different
shades of brown color for his background, but is very bold when it came to the prime
colors. He uses red, blue and yellow as part of the figure’s clothes. Aurora mostly naked is trying to seduce Cephalus sexually, but viewer can see from the body movement and the position of Cephalus that he is refusing repeatedly as she grabs his waist. There are interesting figures in this painting, other than the main two people there is a sleeping god, Oceanus, on the side. “Her coming herald the day; it is brought by Apollo, the sun god, driving his chariot.” The figure who is lying down on the left of the Pegasus may have been Terra, the goddess who represents the beginning of the day.
Francois Boucher also from the time period of Nicolas Poussin, is a French artist who usually drew mythological paintings. He represented the Rococo style – “An eighteenth century art style which placed emphasis on portraying the carefree life of the aristocracy rather than on grand heroes or pious martyrs.” In this time period, they believe the theme of love and romance were considered to be better subjects than historical or religious themes. The style was characterized by a free, graceful movement; a playful use of line; and delicate colors. Boucher, the son of a designer of lace, was born in Paris. He studied with the painter François Le Moyne but was most influenced by the delicate style of his contemporary Antoine Watteau. In 1723 Boucher
won the Prix de Rome; he studied in Rome from 1727 to 1731. After his return to France, he created hundreds of paintings, decorative boudoir panels, tapestry designs, theater designs, and book illustrations. He became a faculty member of the Royal Academy in 1734. He designed for the Beauvais tapestry works and in 1755 became director of the Gobelins tapestries. In 1765 he was made first painter to the king, director of the Royal Academy, and designer for the Royal Porcelain Works. His success was encouraged by his patron, Marquise de Pompadour, mistress to Louis XV. He painted her portrait several times.
Although he did many portraits, he was best known for his mythological paintings on love and romance. His painting, The Toilet of Venus, expressed eroticism through the Venus’ nudity and the elegant decorations around her. There are many great details including flowers, aromas with smokes still coming out, detailed furniture, exotic cloth, and beautiful white pearls around her and even in her hair. The cupids and the doves are attributes of Venus as goddess of Love. “The flowers allude to her role as patroness of gardens and the pearls to her mysterious birth from the sea.”
Both painters from the time period had mostly the same idea when it came to
their scenes of mythological stories. Both expresses love and eroticism in different matters and mood. In Poussin’s painting, he reveals the sense of trust and faithfulness
while a Goddess is trying to seduce the mortal man. On the other hand, Boucher paints the Goddess of Love herself and nothing more. He brings out the sensual side of Venus with the use of all the eccentric decorations. All the fancy props describe Venus with their meanings behind them.
Benjamin West, born in year 1738, was an American painter who achieved his greatest success in London and became the President of the Royal Academy in 1792. He represented the Neoclassical style. It was called the Neoclassical style after the “artistic reaction against the frivolities and excesses of the Rococo period.” Another factor was the discovery of two ancient Roman cities - Herculaneum and Pompeii. “These cities housed a hidden horde of ancient artifacts and art objects, the design of which created immediate interest in things Greek and Roman. Ultimately, artists combined fashion, politics, and a passion for antiquity to produce the Neoclassical style.” When West visited England in 1763, his paintings caused a sensation. He stayed and soon became England's leading Neoclassical painter.
His heroic painting of Wolfe’s death became one of the most famous works of art of the late eighteenth century. In this painting he has painted the death of the famous British commander who died in the battle to seize Quebec. This painting is an ordinary battle scene where a commander is dying with honor and dignity, but what is more interesting is the presence of an Indian man. In the history, there was no Indian man watching the death of Wolfe, but Benjamin West added him into the painting to portray the “noble savage” bringing reverence to the General’s heroic death. He kneels down, hand on his chin, watching the last few moments of Wolfe and learning from his experience. The American Indian is noble , but savage at the same time.
Francisco Goya represented the late Baroque period. He was born on March 30, 1746, in Fuendetodos, a village in northern Spain. He was first introduced to art when he apprenticed to a local painter, Jose Luzan.
The mood of the painting is very bleak and somber. The colors which the artist has chosen are earth tones, and there is a strong overall contrast of dark and light. This dramatic lighting technique or chiaroscuro can be seen in the central figure or focal point-the young Spanish man with his arms outstretched. The implied lines of the gun lead the viewers eye to the focal point. His outstretched arms form a "V" line. This line is reiterated in the collar and pants of the man. There is also an angular or "V" line formed by the lantern that illuminates the scene. There is a line in the sand that differentiates the "good, or noble" Spanish countrymen from the harsher, harder forms of the French soldiers in the shadows. The shapes of the French soldiers are highly contoured. They turn way from the viewer. We do not know what they look like. The viewer can not relate to them. In contrast we see the faces of the Spanish countrymen, we see their fear, pain, defiance, and belief. Texturally the Spanish countrymen are softer. The artist has created looser brushstrokes and a duller surface. This in contrast to the shiner surface of the soldier. Spacially, the viewer is outside looking in. The light and dark contrast of the line in the sand separates the two groups spatially. There is also a feeling of entrapment created by the line of the mountain that holds the Spanish countrymen into the space. He stands with the Spanish people and symbolizes their courage, faith, and lack of understanding of war atrocities and aggression. The element of time is very interesting in this painting. Goya presents the present-the figure presently being shot, the past-the dead men in the pool of blood-and the future-the long line of men who will be shot. The painting is timeless. It pays tribute to people who are willing to stand up for their beliefs, in spite of, aggressors who would try to destroy them. It also shows the price that the price of war for the victims as well as the aggressors. Goya shows us that the aggressors have become robotic like and inhuman in their treatment of the people they would try to conquer.
Unlike the painting illustrated nobility and politeness for death in The Death of General Wolfe, the painting depicts the lack of humanity for people’s innocent death in Goya’s The Third of May, 1808. There is neither respect, nor guilt when the soldiers are killing the victims of the war.
With each painting, each is successful in bringing out the time period, the life of the artist, and the meanings behind the paintings. As we went through six different paintings all in diverse time periods,
Leonardo da Vinci; Last Supper, 1495-98
Jacopo Tintoretto; The Last Supper, 1592-94
Francois Boucher; The Toilet of Venus, 1751
Nicolas Poussin; Cephalus and Aurora, 1630
Benjamin West; The Death of General Wolfe, 1770
Francisco Goya; The Third of May, 1808, 1814-15