“the purpose in their minds”

“A picture or representation of human figures ought to be done in such a way that the spectator may easily recognize, by means of their attitudes, the purpose in their minds…if you have to represent a man of noble character in the act of speaking, let his gestures be such as naturally accompany good words…” — Leonardo Da Vinci, Leonardo’s Notebooks

When Leonardo painted his most famous Fresco, The Last Supper, preserved inside the refectory (dining hall) of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in Milan he was likely representing men of “noble character”, Jesus Christ and his apostles.

Flanked by his twelve apostles, Jesus has just declared that one of them will betray him. (“Verily I say unto you: one of you will betray me.”) The picture depicts the reaction of each disciple to the news.

It appears Leonardo was creating his painting based on one of the scenes described in Bible ,( Chapter 26, “Matthew”, “The New Testament”). The instant when Christ told his apostles that he knew he would be betrayed, and it would be one of them who betrayed him. Leonardo successfully portrayed this very second by describing different motions and expressions of each character.

Leonardo was well known for his love of symmetry. In his Last Supper the layout is largely horizontal. The large table is seen in the foreground of the image with all of…