Paintings

Here are some of the paintings who changed the world.

The Last Supper: The traditional representation of the Last Supper was a rank of 11 Apostles and Christ on one side of a long table, and Judas Iscariot on the other. Leonardo brought them all together, illustrating the moment Christ announced that one would betray him, and then depicted their startled responses of astonishment, dismay and recoil

School Of Athens: Raphael constructed an unreal marvel of classical architecture for his assembly of philosophers, mathematicians and wise men of the ancient world. That Plato and Aristotle are giants among them is made clear, not by size, but by placing them centrally in the composition, framed by the arch, the space before them open, drawing our eyes toward them.

Sacrifice of Isaac

The Last Judgement: In The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo applied his knowledge of the nude to the construction of an imagined ideal figure perfect in proportion and Herculean in musculature, realistic but not restrained by realism; God, supported by angels within his flowing cloak, reaches towards him, and their outstretched hands and pointing fingers are dramatically silhouetted as a bridge across a cloudless sky.

The Descent From The Cross: High drama and dreadful moment – lowering Christ’s body. His dead weight has begun to slip; one man above him has let go, the other, the winding-sheet clenched in his teeth, has an uncertain grip on an arm; St John, in red, about to receive all the weight, but too precariously poised for it, looks over his shoulder at us, the spectators, for help.

Las Meninas: King Philip IV of Spain’s painter, in the presence of the king, contrasts the perfections of the little princess with the imperfections of the adult dwarf who is one of their attendants. Is this a cruel joke – dwarves were for the amusement of the court – or is it a compassionate observation that in their way the ugly can be beautiful? The painter’s grave old dog, not responding to the princeling’s kick, is the answer to this question. The painter too was just such a faithful uncomplaining dog.