The Staging of Leonardo’s Last Supper
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Exploring New Tools for the Artist
Presentation Title:
- The Staging of Leonardo’s Last Supper
Presenter(s):
Abstract:
FISEA
The question of perspective posed by Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper has been addressed by an analysis supported by a computer-aided multi-processor. A three-dimensional space was built within the computer to explore the notion that Leonardo used the ‘trickery of the theater in constructing the nontraditional perspective of this Fresco. In this investigation, the compositional elements were manipulated in the computer-created space, and the resulting images were projected into the plane of the Fresco. The analysis compared these projected images, as seen from various points in the Refectory, to the painted ones in Leonardo’s mural. The results clarify Leonardo’s use of an accelerated perspective in his construction of the staging of the Last Supper and locate the vantage points at the door and in the viewing plane of the monks, who sat along the side walls of the Refectory.
