Description
JAN SANDERS VAN HEMESSEN (c. 1500 - c. 1566). "The Last Supper." Oil on oak panel. Cradled. Reproduced work Revue belge d'archéologie et d'histoire de l'art. No. 70, 2001. Brussels. It presents restorations on the pictorial surface and faults in the frame. Measurements: 59,7 x 73,5 cm; 94 x 107 cm (frame). Although all the characters are located as a frieze, the author has established several planes that provide great depth to the whole. These are defined by the apostles in front of or behind the table and the large windows open to the landscape, which is defined by a precise drawing and a very specific chromatic range typical of the Flemish school. The Last Supper is one of the most relevant representations in the history of Western art. In the first place, because it is the concrete moment in which the sacrament of the Eucharist is established, since Jesus made the analogy between his body and the bread, and the wine and his blood. Secondly, the mythical scene that was painted by Leonardo, established the basis of Renaissance aesthetics, thus providing a conception of perspective that was hegemonic until well into the twentieth century. In this particular case, the scene reflects this aesthetic based on the Leonardesque composition, and the characters present a similar disposition to the one mentioned above. Formally, the scene is part of the academicism, and therefore follows classical rules, the first of which is the high technical quality. Thus, the drawing is rigorous and firm, of great anatomical perfection. Jan Sanders van Hemessen was an outstanding Flemish Renaissance painter, belonging to the group of Italianizing Flemish painters called the Romanists, influenced by Italian Renaissance painting. Van Hemessen had visited Italy during the 1520s, and also Fontainebleau, near Paris, in the mid-1530s, where he was able to contemplate the work of the colony of Italian artists known as the First School of Fontainebleau, who were working on the decorations of the Palace of Fontainebleau. Van Hemessen's works show his ability to interpret Italian models in a new Flemish visual vocabulary. Hemessen played an important role in the development of genre painting, through his large scenes with religious or mundane subjects, set in cities with contemporary clothing and architecture. These works depict human flaws, such as greed and vanity, and some show interest in financial themes. His genre scenes develop the "mannerist inversion," which Pieter Aertsen later developed, in which a small religious scene in the background reveals the true meaning of the painting, which is dominated by a large foreground scene apparently devoted to a profane genre subject. One of his best known works, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, expresses a religious theme through a pure genre painting set in a tavern. It presents restorations on the pictorial surface and faults in the frame.
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JAN SANDERS VAN HEMESSEN (c. 1500 - c. 1566). "The Last Supper." Oil on oak panel. Cradled. Reproduced work Revue belge d'archéologie et d'histoire de l'art. No. 70, 2001. Brussels. It presents restorations on the pictorial surface and faults in the frame. Measurements: 59,7 x 73,5 cm; 94 x 107 cm (frame). Although all the characters are located as a frieze, the author has established several planes that provide great depth to the whole. These are defined by the apostles in front of or behind the table and the large windows open to the landscape, which is defined by a precise drawing and a very specific chromatic range typical of the Flemish school. The Last Supper is one of the most relevant representations in the history of Western art. In the first place, because it is the concrete moment in which the sacrament of the Eucharist is established, since Jesus made the analogy between his body and the bread, and the wine and his blood. Secondly, the mythical scene that was painted by Leonardo, established the basis of Renaissance aesthetics, thus providing a conception of perspective that was hegemonic until well into the twentieth century. In this particular case, the scene reflects this aesthetic based on the Leonardesque composition, and the characters present a similar disposition to the one mentioned above. Formally, the scene is part of the academicism, and therefore follows classical rules, the first of which is the high technical quality. Thus, the drawing is rigorous and firm, of great anatomical perfection. Jan Sanders van Hemessen was an outstanding Flemish Renaissance painter, belonging to the group of Italianizing Flemish painters called the Romanists, influenced by Italian Renaissance painting. Van Hemessen had visited Italy during the 1520s, and also Fontainebleau, near Paris, in the mid-1530s, where he was able to contemplate the work of the colony of Italian artists known as the First School of Fontainebleau, who were working on the decorations of the Palace of Fontainebleau. Van Hemessen's works show his ability to interpret Italian models in a new Flemish visual vocabulary. Hemessen played an important role in the development of genre painting, through his large scenes with religious or mundane subjects, set in cities with contemporary clothing and architecture. These works depict human flaws, such as greed and vanity, and some show interest in financial themes. His genre scenes develop the "mannerist inversion," which Pieter Aertsen later developed, in which a small religious scene in the background reveals the true meaning of the painting, which is dominated by a large foreground scene apparently devoted to a profane genre subject. One of his best known works, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, expresses a religious theme through a pure genre painting set in a tavern. It presents restorations on the pictorial surface and faults in the frame.
