The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci Essay Example for Free

The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci Essay The Renaissance, which took place in the fifteenth century, was an important time for artist. For many years, art had not played a significant role in the lives of individuals. Instead they had worked hard and worshiped a god that they felt was out to destroy them. Then came the Renaissance when art was reborn and wisdom was encouraged. Artist began to experiment with new techniques and materials. Many of the creative people of the day looked at their subjects in a different way. They wanted them to look realistic instead of the stiff figures in earlier works. Leonardo Da Vinci, a true Renaissance man, was no exception. The Last Supper was one of his most famous works and embodied the characteristics of the Italian Renaissance. The Renaissance movement followed the Gothic art of the Middle Ages, also known as The Dark Ages. After the lack of learning of the Middle Ages there was a complete turnabout in the Renaissance. It was as if there was a burst of enthusiasm for learning and experimenting with every new idea that artist could fathom. There was no shortage of patrons to support these skilled and talented individuals of the art world. There was a renewed interest in the ancient Greek and Roman art and architecture. It seemed to those whose art was produced in the Renaissance felt that it was more beneficial to study the works of the ancients instead of the previous period. In ancient Greece and Rome, there was a keen interest in the human being. They felt that mankind was the most interesting subject for an artist. Man was complex and there was always something to be learned about him. In an attempt to present man in the way that he had never been before, the artist of the Renaissance period delved into the practice of experimenting with perspective. It was only through painting a three dimensional figure that man could be seen as the complex being that he was. In order to make a figure seem more than one dimensional, chiaroscuro, or the use of light and dark to create depth. Duke Ludovico Sforza was a patron of Da Vinci. He commissioned him to paint the mural of The Last Supper on the wall of his dining hall. He accepted the commission and began his work in fourteen ninety-five. As was true to Da Vinci’s nature, he wanted to experiment with new materials. He covered the wall with a sealant, gesso, and then painted the mural with tempura paint. Like many experiments, this one proved to be unsuccessful. While the painting was a masterpiece, it did not hold up well and it was not long after he finished in fourteen ninety-eight that the painting was already showing signs of deterioration. The mural has been restored many times over the centuries and has now recently been restored to what is hoped to be an accurate one. However, it was a difficult task since not all of the ones who tried to restore it had the same objective as leaving in its original form. The painting itself is of the Passover that Jesus spent with his twelve disciples just before his arrest and crucifixion, later known as The Last Supper. Religious subjects were quite popular in Italian society because Italy was the center of the Roman Catholic Church. In this painting Jesus has just informed his disciples that one of them would betray him. This shocked and confused his disciples because they wondered how one of the twelve could go against the man they had given up everything for, who was the one who would commit such a vile act, and would the culprit be them. The look of surprise and disdain is on their faces. Jesus is placed at the center of the painting and then he is flanked on each side by six of the disciples. This creates a balance to the stark room, which is the setting of the last meal that Jesus would share with his original twelve disciples. Judas is just to the left of Jesus and is holding his finger in a way that would suggest he is being challenged. The others are discussing the situation amongst themselves. The disciple to the right of Jesus has been the center of discussion lately with the popularity of the book and movie The Da Vinci Code. The disciple of all of the focus is John, the one who was the â€Å"beloved† disciple. Da Vinci painted him to look extremely feminine. Dan Brown questioned the identity of this figure. He suggested that instead of John, the identity was Mary Magdalene. Perhaps Brown was right, but it also makes sense that Da Vinci actually meant for the figure to be John. John was the youngest of the disciples and he could have emphasized his youth by purposely painting him in a feminine light to stress his youth. The setting of the painting is the upper room of the Passover meal. The room is dark and stark. Da Vinci brings light to the painting by using light and vivid colors for the clothing of the disciples. Light blue is the predominant color with pink, green, and yellow used as complimentary colors. The viewer’s eye is automatically drawn to the center of the painting which is Jesus, but is shortly drawn out in both directions because the colors seem to elongate the view. Jesus and the disciples have a multi dimensional appearance as was popular during the Renaissance. However, they were not accurate in the sense that they appear European. These men were Israelites and their complexions and hair would have been much darker than they appear in the painting. This is also a trait of Renaissance art. The artist tended to make their biblical subjects look like the artist. Leonardo Da Vinci and his painting, The Last Supper, are typical examples of the Renaissance movement. His courage to experiment and yet still focus on religious themes that were popular at that time was enhanced by his superior artistic talent.

Hypocrisy of Mr. Garner and Mr. Bodwin in Toni Morrisons Beloved Essay

The Hypocrisy of Mr. Garner and Mr. Bodwin in Toni Morrison's Beloved   In Toni Morrison's novel Beloved, both Mr. Garner and Mr. Bodwin are presented initially as decent men, with views on the black race that differ from all the rest of the white men in the book. The readers first impression of each of these men is favorable. With further reading and thought however, the reader notices more and more details that tend to change their initial impression. By the end of the book both men seem to have lost their appeal. Even though there is very little said against Mr. Garner, and even less against Mr. Bodwin, it seems that Morrison was trying to cause very mixed opinions about each one of these characters. In the end, Mr. Garner seems no less racist than his fellow slave owners, and Mr. Bodwin, though opposed to slavery also appears to be much more racist than he lets on.   Mr. Garner is the owner of Sweet Home, the plantation where Sethe, her family, and others had been slaves before their escape. He is singled out from the rest of the white men right away. When his character is first introduced the narrator speaks of him fighting with other farmers about his slaves being men. "Now at Sweet Home, my niggers is men every one of em. Bought em thataway, raised em thataway. Men every one" he had told other farmers (Morrison 10). With this comment Mr. Garner was fishing for the reaction he loved to hear, "I wouldn't have no nigger men round my wife.", to which he'd retaliate "neither would I, neither would I"(11).   On the surface Mr. Garner is presented as a very admirable man. He "ran a special kind of slavery", Baby Suggs had thought, "treating them as paid labor" (140).   The way... ...s than noble. Both men seem to put on a mightier-than-thou air when in public, and try to appear as non-racist as possible. Yet Mr. Garner owns slaves, an obviously racist act, even if he does allow them more than other slave owners would. And Mr. Bodwin who claims to be against slavery, and has fought to end it, displays in his own house a figure that embodies slavery. It appears that the only difference between other slave owners and Mr. Garner, is that they don't try and hide their racism or pretend they're better than anyone else. Mr. Bodwin does not own slaves, and does not believe in the practice, but he is still racist as we can see from the figure in his house. Which of these is better? Who can say? But most people aren't fond of hipocrits. Works Cited Morrison, Toni. Beloved. Markham, Ontario: Penguin Books Canada Limited, 1987

Responsible Borrowing Worksheet Essay

Many students borrow federal student loans to pay for college. The goal of this assignment is to help you learn how to borrow responsibly, which may mean that you do not borrow at all or that you borrow only what you truly need. To borrow responsibly, you must understand your options and establish a financial plan for your entire program. With that plan in place, you can then focus on your classes and making connections with instructors and other students. There are three steps listed below for this assignment. Respond to the questions for each step in this worksheet only and submit your completed document to the Assignment Files tab. Step 1 Watch the â€Å"Responsible Borrowing (Financial Aid)† video on the orientation website located here: http://www.phoenix.edu/student-orientation.html. Respond to the following three questions in the spaces provided below: What is financial aid? How do grants differ from loans? What effect does class attendance have on funding availability? Step 2 Navigate to the Personal Finance category of the GEN/127 PhoenixConnect ® Community. Explore the resources provided and view some of the discussions shared by the community members. Respond to the following two questions in the spaces provided below: What did you find about student loan repayment plans? Why is having an educational financial plan important? Step 3 Access the Financial Plan at www.phoenix.edu/financialplan. Enter your program and respond to the questions. Explore the information about options for payment, reducing cost, and military students (if applicable). If you have already completed the plan as part of the enrollment process, you can use those results for this step. Respond to the following two questions in the spaces provided below: Based on this plan, what is your estimated monthly payment when you enter repayment? As a result of completing the plan, what changes can you make to reduce the amount you may borrow? Why?

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