LAST SUPPER, SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE, VENICE

(1592-1594)

One of Tintoretto's best-known works, theLast Supperbelongs to the last stages of his career when he incorporated supernatural elements into his renditions. The dining table in this scene is placed on the left in a diagonal that recedes rapidly into space. There, Christ administers the Eucharist to one of theapostles, while the other men gesticulate as they converse. Judas, at the opposite side of the table, is the only figure without a halo. Above the men are angels painted as spectral beings. They provide a contrast to the mundane servants who clear the dishes, the cat who tries to get at the leftovers, and the dog who chews on a bone. The concurrence of divine and mundane, the dynamism of the scene punctuated by the diagonal positioning of objects and figures, and the commotion caused by the clanking of dishes and loud conversation are what set this work apart from earlier renditions of the Last Supper.