A comparison of three paintings

A comparison of three paintings

A comparison of three paintings

What I would like you to do in this paper is to compare three paintings, all of which depict the same subject. The subject is the Supper at Emmaus, which is narrated in the Gospel of Luke 24:30-31. The paintings are by Caravaggio (painted in 1601), Veronese (painted c. 1559) and Rembrandt (painted in 1648).

I would like you to concentrate on the significant differences between these paintings, with the aim of showing how they interpret the story differently. You might want to begin by attempting to identify (or not) the figures represented in the paintings. Additional points to consider are the dress, attitude and placement of figures; gestures and expressions; architectural setting and accoutrements, such as food on the table; lighting and color. These are suggested points and you do not have to consider every one of them, only the ones you see as important. You may also want to make use of some of the categories that Wölfflin developed for the analysis of art. Here is the summary of the main points that we discussed in class. I have also put up a PowerPoint with the images and some details on Canvas, for use in this paper.