Beholding Mystery:  Tintoretto’s Last Supper and Magnifying the Divine

Sept 14, 2020 | By Sharla Moody BK ‘22

Upon the first viewing, Tintoretto’s Last Supper is wholly disorienting. The painting is a conglomeration of people, color, and mystery grouped under a title that immediately ties it to da Vinci’s older, more famous depiction of the same event. But Tintoretto imagines a less formal, more enigmatic scene. Like da Vinci’s painting, Christ is still central, but the rest of the painting crowds in on all sides, overwhelming the eye and mind. There are angels! And a cat! And so many people!