"The Last Supper"

Tintoretto's painting is anything but symmetrical as even the table itself is set at a sharp angel receding into the dark background of the picture plane. This effectively divides the canvas into two scenes, contrasting the spirituality of the scene on one side of the table with the secular world on the other. In a central position, Jesus Christ stands surrounded by his disciples, all on the far side of the table. Eleven disciples and two women stand on the same side of the table as Christ, one of the women wears blue, the other is in red, symbolic colors associated with The Madonna and Mary Magdalene, respectively. Also behind Christ on the left side of the canvas, the hanging lamp casts out an illusionary glow, a golden circle of light casting rays across the scene accented with trails of smoke that morph into sketchy, translucent-like angels who bear witness to the event. Across the table, and in one way that Tintoretto follows tradition, is Judas, the betrayer, who sits among the servants and staff of the earthly realm, who appear to be serving the Last Supper to the heavenly gathering. 

While steeped in Renaissance techniques, works such as this one result in Tintoretto's association by later scholars with the 16th-century tradition of Italian Mannerism. The extremely dark composition, accented with sharp contrasts of bright light to highlight Christ and the celestial angelic figures above, not only sets him apart from the highly saturated use of color usually associated with the School of Venice, but foreshadows the dramatic use of tenebrism employed by Caravaggio and his followers. The strategy of extreme dark and light, paired with a strong diagonal compositional structure, will also become the trademark of Romantic painters.