Comparative Analysis: Visual Art in Mona Lisa and The Last Supper

This essay provides a formal and stylistic analysis of two prominent visual art pieces from the Renaissance period: Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. The analysis delves into the artistic and compositional qualities of each painting, explaining the visible elements and their significance. In The Last Supper, the depiction of the apostles' reactions to Jesus's announcement of betrayal is examined, along with the symbolism associated with Judas. For Mona Lisa, the enigmatic expression and the composition are discussed. The essay then compares the two works, highlighting their similarities and differences in subject matter, while also emphasizing the expert craftsmanship and the captivating environments depicted in both paintings. Desklib is a great platform to find such solved assignments.

Running head: VISUAL ARTS
VISUAL ARTS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note:

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Visual art is the art form where through visual depiction of various images certain
messages are communicated or certain scenes and events are portrayed. These scenes can be
historical, mythical or imaginative. Visual art has been the most important medium among all the
other art forms. In the present age of multimedia everywhere depiction of visual art can be seen.
In modern day consumerism depends on the use of visual art in various ways(Kesner, 2014).
In the middle ages and the later Renaissance period the artists used a lot of visual art,
mainly painting and sculpture which are still a point of study for all the contemporary art
students. The paintings of the classical era mainly depended on the depiction of Biblical
incidents, and in the later part after the Renaissance, other humanistic figures and themes were
depicted in the paintings and sculptures of the Renaissance period. Renaissance literally meant
rebirth, and the rebirth signifies the rebirth of human consciousness and understanding(Kemp &
Pallanti,2017). The power of questioning was re-instated in the human beings and through the
depictions of the different themes in their visual arts the artists started conveying messages of
humanism in the renaissance art.
The two visual art pieces chosen in this case are the two Renaissance painting of
Leonardo da Vinci known as Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. These two paintings were created
during the Renaissance period in Europe when a host of Venetian artist had created a number of
master pieces through different mediums of visual art such as painting, sculpture and
architecture(Morrison,2014). Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo andRaphael
established milestones in their own own fields. The other master pieces of the period are “Virgin
of the Rocks”, “The Entombment” and the “Fresco painting at Sistine Chapel”. All of these
paintings have their own distinctive style.

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In this paper the two works which are taken are Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. In the
painting Last Supper Leonardo Da Vinci depicted the last supper of Jesus before he was betrayed
by one of the Apostles. This was taken from the Gospel of John. The Last Supper was placed in
the end wall of the hall of Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery in Milan of Italy. The work was
completed in 1498. The situation was very finely depicted by Leonardo Da Vinci when he
announced that one of the Apostles would be betraying him. The reaction of each of the Apostles
were depicted. The expression that has been depicted in the face of Judas very expertly expresses
his “taken aback situation” by the sudden revelation of his plan. He has been also placed in a
rather shadowy region compared to the other apostles. There is a debate about why exactly Judas
is holding a bag full of silver coins. This can be either the depiction of payment given to him by
the enemies as a payment for betraying Jesus, or this can be showing his role as a treasurer of the
12 apostles. The salt container in front of him is tipped which shows that he has betrayed the salt
which again signifies the betraying of one’s “master”. Thomas has a finger straight pointed up
which probably predicts the resurrection of Jesus. The painting is similar to other depictions of
last supper from the same time where all the apostles and Jesus is showing their face towards the
painter so that in the painting everyone’s face is visible. Jesus is seen to be pointing towards the
bread, he predicts that the betrayer will take the bread and on the other hand Judas as well
reaches for the bread not knowing about the prediction made by Jesus.
Formalism is the way of understanding a particular artwork based on the basic elements
of the painting, based on the forms that has been given to it and the principles of it (Buchloh,
2015). The viewer and the painting, or any artwork that is viewed, has to have an interaction in
order to properly instill the true meaning of the artwork in the viewers mind. “The study of the
elements and principles of art is the foundation to the formal study of a visual object”( Buchloh,

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2015). To understand the painting called The Last Supper properly and its inner insinuation, a
formal analysis is necessary to understand all the elements of art used in it. How the salt
container has been mistakenly turned upside down, how the shadows are used on Judas to depict
his nature, are all part of this analysis.
The other master piece by the same artist is the Mona Lisa which is a portrait of a women
by him. This is often cited as one of the most talked about and most parodied painting on the
planet. It is listed as one of the most precious paintings as well. It is said by most of the experts
that this painting is a portrait of the lady named Lisa Gherardini. Wife of famous business man of
the Renaissance period Francesco del Giocondo. One of the most talked about feature of this
painting is the expression of the person. It is said that it is hard to understand what exactly is the
expression depicting whether she is smiling with fulfillment or whether she is depressed(Pitre,
2015). The overall environment that has been painted is enigmatic and amazing. The subject is
perfectly placed before the background which has several features of nature like trees, water
body and hills. The famous artist from the same period Raphael later sketched a similar drawing
with pen and ink, however in the background are pillars.
Composition is one of the important aspect of how an image may impact a person’s mind.
The way animage is composed with its various elements and components, the way in which the
subjects are placed, the environment is presented, and how the whole image is formed in a
coherent manner is its composition (Ball, 2017).. In Mona Lisa the composition is so perfect that
one get amazed by looking at the image. Everything is perfectly put into place. The environment
is at its best, being synchronized with the subject. The expression of the subject creates an
illusion in itself in the viewer’s mind. “Principles such as; line, balance, movement, proportion,

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contrast, and repetition” are to be known properly before the composition of a painting is
comprehendible.
The two paintings are very different because of the difference of the subject between the
two. The last supper is a biblical painting which was somewhat given a more human touch by the
artist, such as the disappearance of the Halos which was one of the most common features in all
Biblical paintings prior to this period. However, the various nomenclature and metamorphic
indications in the painting depict the various incidents of the Bible and the last supper of Jesus of
Nazareth, but in the case of Mona Lisa it was a portrait of a lady who was wife of a very famous
business man of Italy(Liaci et al., 2017).
The similarity of the paintings lies in the fact that both the paintings are done very
expertly with great precision and the environment expressed amaze the mind of the person
viewing the paintings. The little intricate details that reveals the mind of the apostles in the “Last
Supper” and the beautifully depicted background and enigmatically crafted expression of Mona
Lisa, both of these set these two works a notch higher than most of the paintings ever created in
the human history.

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Bibliography:
Ball, P. (2017). Art: Under Mona Lisa's smile. Nature, 546(7656), 32.
Buchloh, B. H. (2015). Formalism and Historicity: Models and Methods in Twentieth-century
Art. MIT Press.
Kemp, M., & Pallanti, G. (2017). Mona Lisa: The People and the Painting. Oxford University
Press.
Kesner, L. (2014). The predictive mind and the experience of visual art work. Frontiers in
Psychology, 5, 1417.
Liaci, E., Fischer, A., Heinrichs, M., Van Elst, L. T., & Kornmeier, J. (2017). Mona Lisa is
always happy–and only sometimes sad. Scientific reports, 7, 43511.
Morrison, K. F. (2014). History as a visual art in the twelfth-century renaissance. Princeton
University Press.
Pitre, B. (2015). Jesus and the Last Supper.