The painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci is depicting the ultimate scene of last chances. The painting shows jesus at the table with all twelve of his disciples. During this, the last meal they would ever have together before his death, jesus shares some harsh news. He knows that one of them will betray him before his crucifixion and shares this with all at the table. Da Vinci’s painting depicts the reaction of the apostles after hearing this news at the table. The accusatory reactions of the twelve disciples towards each other seem to be directly opposite of the calmness the viewer sees from the subject of this painting, jesus, who is seated in the center of the table. This is very different from the type of religious painting that was popular at the time. Also, by using harsh straight lines in many aspects of the painting including the body posture of the twelve at the table, the painter is conveying a negative energy in a situation that is full of religious importance. This painting influences the viewer's idea of the event that happened in the time of the painting, and changes the ideas that typical religious painting is calm and serene, and now shows complexity, and real human emotion. 

It is very evident that the author uses many straight lines throughout the painting to convey a more negative energy to the viewer. In the original story of the last supper, we know it to be a serious time between Jesus and his disciples right before his death. However, we do not often think about it as a tense situation where the disciples are arguing over Jesus, and his accusations against them. Leonardo da Vinci draws attention to this particular moment of the last supper by creating harsh straight lines in the facial expressions and body posture of the disciples at the table. You can see the lines most evidently in the arms and mouth of the disciples, and in the very long straight line of the table. By creating such a long and bright colored table, da Vinci is drawing attention to the fact that the disciples are very spread out from each other and are not all communicating with each other at once. Also by calling attention to the body posture of the twelve at the table, their reactions look more accusatory than one might assume. Especially when fingers and arms are pointed at each other gesturing across the table, and mouths are straight and narrow and seem confused or angry. Simply by making these lines so harsh in the painting, real emotion is being portrayed to the viewer. This stylistic element contributes to the overall painting of the last supper and its understanding in religious culture. By painting with harsh lines, Da Vinci is broadening the typical understanding of the events of the last supper and bringing light to a lesser talked about time before Jesus’ crucifixion. 

In an article about the genre of religious paintings it was said that often religious paintings were not actual depictions of religious events, but painting that involved a reference to the human spirit and some element of faithfulness. Contrary to these popular religious paintings at the time, this piece by Leonardo Da Vinci depicts only a small but evident part of a real event, and leaves the human emotion behind it open to interpretation by the viewer. By involving many different figures, some with conflicting emotions/ demeanors, Da Vinci uses this painting to develop a new side to religious style art as a whole. In this painting we see the subject (Jesus) at the center of the table looking warm and opening with his rounded arms. Our eyes immediately focus on him (as they should) because he is the center of the painting. In religious paintings at the time Jesus was looked at as the “miraculous christ” or “holy figure”. It seemed that in paintings involving Deities, they were the main focus and evoked a sense of calm.  The way the subject is painted starts to set the tone for how we think the rest of the painting should look, however, the rest of the subjects in The Last Supper have opposite body posture that Jesus does. By creating such a contrast between the subject and the other people in the painting the viewer is able to develop the idea of a theme for the painting, and understand what actually took place during the last supper. It is evident that Jesus is not affected by the news that he shared during the last supper, and is obviously not concerned about it because he has accepted his impending death. However, the rest of the disciples are very worried about his accusation of betrayal and seem to not care about Jesus, and only about themselves. This painting shows that even in the midst of a calm and ever present Jesus, the disciples cannot be consoled. They are focusing on everyone and everything but him. This understanding by the viewer draws the focus off Jesus, and makes us question the rest of the painting and what it is really about.

The authors use of different stylistic elements in the painting developed the overall style of religious paintings at the time and contributed to the understanding of the scene in which the painting took place. Overall, this painting only expands on the original idea of calmness/seriousness in the last supper. It gives much more meaning to the historical situation and develops the theme instead of taking away from it like many one dimensional pieces of still art tend to do. The painter uses strategic styles to bring the painting to life, and change the way the viewer looks at the last supper as a whole. 
