This class we discussed the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci and its intricate details surrounding its composition. There are four groups of three apostles, where the numbers three and four are very symbolic. Three represents the Holy Trinity and the theological values (faith, hope and charity). Four represents the number of gospels and cardinal virtues and temperaments. When multiplied together, they equal 12, which represents the number of apostles and months in a year, hours of the day etc. When added together, they equal 7, which represents the seven sorrows and joys of the Virgin. Together, the work represents the passing of time in subtle ways.
We went more in depth of composition and rendering depth with the work of Alberti, On Painting, that talks about vanishing points, the horizon line and orthogonals. We saw depth in the work of The Holy Trinity and the Virgin where the tomb is seen projecting into our space that overall was a symbolic representation of the concept of the Trinity. It is important to note that mostly the Italians used these rules of rendering depth and northerners made the choice of tilting the perspective.