Imitation Theory of Art - Essay Example

Imitation Theory of Art Art refers to the medium by which human beings express emotions, ideas and intellect. It allows individuals to pass inner feelings as well as creativity to the world (Winona State U 1). Art is important in society since great cultures and civilizations attribute success to presence of advanced arts. There are many forms including performing and visual arts, which are further sub divided into numerous forms such as painting, literature, music, sculpture, photography, theatre among others. Consequently, theories of art such as Imitation, Representation, Neo- Representational, Expression, Formalist, and Neo- Formalist attempts to classify various forms art. However, the theories are inaccurate, in exhaustive, bias and incomplete (Winona State U 1). This paper focuses on “The Last Supper” painting by Leonardo da Vinci and analyzes the art through imitation theory of art. Imitation theory considers art as an imitation of life, thus art resembles actual objects, events or even persons. Moreover, the imitation generates aesthetic response within the audience (Jahn 1). The Last Supper Retrieved November 27, 2014 from http://www.leonardoda-vinci.org/The-Last-Supper-1498.html The painting was done by Leonardo da Vinci in the period 1495-1498 and forms part of famous artworks in the world. Leonardo, an artist, engineer, scientist, humanist, author, inventor, and architect was a great man born 1452 in Italy and died 1519 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1). This big fresco like artwork was done on the wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan city, Italy is a false fresco since the painting was done on a dry wall rather than a wet wall. The painting is a perfect subject and match for dining hall within a monastery and depicts the ritual meal as a form of religious ceremony among Christians. Therefore, Leonardo’s work imitates the Last Supper where Christ shared his final meal with the disciples before arrest and crucifixion. He tells his disciples that he will be betrayed by one of them and soon depart from them. In the group of threes, various disciples react to the news with group on the far left looking surprised. They could probably think that they cannot betray their master. In the next group, there could be Judas who appears to hold a bag that could contain silver (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1). Sitting behind him is Peter, the number one disciple of Jesus and who appears angered by the statement. The other person next to Peter is a probably a younger apostle who appears to swoon. The Last Supper painting is a form of imitation theory resembling the actual biblical event whereby Christ had his last meals with the twelve disciples. The painting attempts to portray the manner by which Jesus sat with the apostles in his last moments on earth. The sitting of the disciples was balanced in that six sat on his left side while the other six were on his right side. During the event, Christ gets the opportunity to inform the group of his betrayal and death. The painting portrays Jesus as sad due to the imminent crucifixion and death (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1). The mood resembles the real situation among human beings whereby people appear or become sad when they realize that something evil is going to happen to them. Therefore, the audience appreciates the aesthetic nature of the painting as it reflects the true life scenario. Consequently, Leonardo’s work seem to resemble the actual reactions among various disciples on news about the imminent tribulations on their master. They form groups of threes with one group appearing surprised to the news. This could be that none of them had the evil plan of betraying Christ. Moreover, Judas the betrayer of Christ is shown to be holding a bag which could be carrying silver paid to him for the betrayal role. This could be true since immediately after the Last Supper, Judas kisses Christ thus betraying him to the Roman authorities which arrest and later crucify him (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1). Therefore, the bag could probably be containing payment for the later planned mission. Consequently, Peter being the number one disciple appears angered by the assertion of Christ. Peter’s reaction imitates real life situation since being number one disciple and thus, being closest to Jesus make him feel obliged to be concerned more about the master’s welfare compared to the rest of the disciples. Furthermore, the young person sitting close to Peter seems young and could probably have become unconscious on hearing the sad news about the arrest, crucifixion, and eventual death of the master. This could be attributed to his young age, thus actually lacked the strength and courage to control his feelings and emotions. Leonardo’s work tries to vividly portray the frailties of this young disciple and it actually imitates real life scenarios whereby young people rarely control their emotions and feelings in the public when faced with a challenging situation (Winona State U 1). Conversely, the group sitting on the right side of Christ seems to be questioning him on the issue of betrayal as the other on the far right could be discussing the news in loud voices. Leonardo artistically presents this scenario with different representations of reactions among the disciples thus being a perfect imitation for the entire event of Last Supper (Winona State U 1). Therefore, various audiences can appreciate the aesthetic value of the reactions of the disciples. Additionally, Jesus is the focal point of the artwork and there is sense of asymmetrical symmetry in the manner is he flanked by the disciples. The painting has thirteen people including Christ with Judas Escariot presumed to have sat on the right of Jesus (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1). Additionally, some theories exist claiming that Mary Magdalene was sitting on the left of Jesus in this artwork. Contrastingly, this is false since during that event, there were only twelve apostles, and Mary was not among them. The painting also portrays Christ as the center piece since he is properly framed by the doorway. It offers contrast between the outside and the figure while also vividly displaying the most significant figure on the piece of artwork. Moreover, the arms, body, and head of Christ forms a triangular shape. Similarly, the shape is maintained by the space on his left hand just between him and the next person. Moreover, presence of perspective lines radiating from Christ’s head indicate he is in fact the focal point of the piece of artwork (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1). The lines suit with the walls and ceiling thus, making the painting unique and outstanding. All these components incorporated by Leonardo in the painting perfectly imitates Jesus as the chief guest of the event. Therefore, the painting makes the audience feel integrated in the artwork thus making it symbolic and aesthetic. Despite taking over three years to completion, the Leonardo never worked continuously and nobody knows the exact date of instigation due to unreliable record keeping and loss of data. Regrettably, this great piece of artwork began deteriorating about sixty years after its completion due to the kind of medium used during the painting process. Because of its uniqueness, there have been various restoration attempts over many centuries. The major restoration attempt was made in 1978 with application of modern methods (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1). Consequently, there was a novel considerate reactions of the elements to the artwork. This action ensured continued existence for thousands of future generations to witness and appreciate the great and beauty work of Leonardo da Vinci. However, the restoration attracted criticism and controversy due to the brightness of the new colors in addition to the changes made from the original form. Despite the criticism, the Last Super forms one of the greatest works and legacies of Leonardo da Vinci. It still amazes and offers an inspired look into the uniqueness and genius of the author, thereby inspiring new artist in terms of presentation and perspective. It remains a turning point in art history since it directed art onto novel and realistic path. Works Cited Jahn, G. R. The Aesthetic Theory of Leo Tolstoy’s. What is Art? The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, XXXIV. (1975). Printed in U.S.A. Retrieved November 26, 2014 from http://www1.umn.edu/lol-russ/Other/aesthetic_theory_of_what_is_art.htm. Leonardoda-vinci.org. The Last Supper. (2014). Retrieved November 27, 2014 from http://www.leonardoda-vinci.org/The-Last-Supper-1498.html The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Leonardo da Vinci (1492- 1519). (2014). Retrieved November 27, 2014 from http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/leon/hd_leon.htm Winona State U. Philosophy of Art: Class Notes for Philosophy of Art. (2013). Retrieved November 27, 2014 from http://course1.winona.edu/eslowik/artnotes. Read More