| Abstrakt: |
This article would survey the symbolism in those works which are paintings regarded to have religious content and expression. Accordingly, the symbolism of three painting of "The Last Supper", respectively by renaissance painter and inventor Leonardo da Vinci, surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, and contemporary artist Simon Patterson would be discussed. Across the history of painting the theme of The Last Supper has been always one of the most prominent and acclaimed subjects among the Christian painters. There are many amazing symbols that are used to depict this historical-religious event which is in turn related to the Mass. As the title of "The Last Supper" conveys, it seems that the mentioned works have to obey the particular conventions dominant in the realm of religious pictures. With a comparative study of these three works one may infer that sometimes the religious theme becomes a subject matter for the artist to mediate the values dominant across his contemporary religious culture and yet to imply his worldviews and understanding through injecting indirect symbols to the work. Sometimes the artist even goes further and breaks down the theme in a way that it becomes an ordinary social theme. If this happens then not only the theme but also the content would bear a new form and the artist, using the symbol in his work, gives a new manifesto about the religion in modern and contemporary societies. This article will compare three paintings of "The Last Supper" to discuss the vicissitudes of religious views and to argue that artists tendency to use religious symbols and their manner for expressing religious themes have been changed in the course of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
