The Psychology of Images

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Visual images are important tools that shape culture in the society. One needs to understand visual rhetoric which is defined as the mode in which images relate to their messages in order to comprehend and appreciate the important role that images play in persuading the public.

Visual communication is an influential form of communication because it reflects social issues and highlights those elements that are not obviously evident. A fine portrait should make the audience appreciate the subjects in the painting (Leonardo, 6). Visual rhetoric accompanies the use of visual communication.

Visual rhetoric is the skill of finding a new way of persuasion which is a departure from the past where visual images were not commonly used. A rhetorician is someone with the ability to always tell that which is persuasive although he might not be able to explain it in every given case or influence everyone in all the situations. Several rhetoricians have studied different images with a view of analyzing the dynamics of visual rhetoric (Hariman and John, 23).

The Last Supper, a 15^th Century painting by Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the evaluated images. The painting is about the 12 apostles sharing a meal with Jesus the night before his arrest. It specifically captures the moment after Jesus announces that one of them is going to betray him and the different reactions of the disciples. A number of similar paintings have been done before Leonardo’s but none of them highlights the same elements that Da Vinci brings out in his composition.

The painting is the first to portray all the disciples presenting emotions that are identifiable with those of humans including their facial expressions, gestures and postures. Leonardo’s composition shows all aspects of the painting and he “guides” the eye of the viewer towards the head of Christ whose image is in the middle of the painting.

Leonardo paints straight lines on the wall, ceiling and the windows which disappear at the vanishing point at the back of the head of Christ to draw the viewer’s eye to Jesus. His posture appears to form a triangle associated with the Holy Trinity, infinity and the aspect of being heavenly. The aspect of the infinite triangle is also created using the hands of Jesus which are placed on the table. This triangle also forms a vanishing point at the top of the head of Jesus.

Da Vinci presents the disciples facing the viewers unlike in certain previous paintings that portray the disciples with their backs facing the audience. This fact “humanizes” Leonardo’s painting and makes it easier for the audience to identify with it (Rest, 23). He paints Judas leaning back and clutching a small bag with a “shadowed” face that presents him as isolated from the rest. Jesus and Judas are the center of attention. Leonardo employs different lighting and shading to make the two conspicuous.

He paints Christ’s image adjacent to a window with light falling on him creating a halo effect, “dulls” the face of Judah and instead of the luxurious ultramarine pigment garment donned by the others, he uses an inexpensive blue azurite for Judas. This portrayal of the two men makes the image have a “logical claim” of the space. The disciples all respond differently to the announcement of the last supper. Judas appears to be withdrawn and has his head facing downwards. Jude, Thaddeus and Mathew are both facing Simon.

Christ is the only one who looks composed. The number “three” is used several times to signify the Holy Trinity. The disciples’ grouping into four makes them seem to be talking to each other and asking if they know who the betrayer is. Leonardo pays attention to the disciples’ facial reactions as well as posture. He makes sure that none of the disciple’s reaction is similar to the others.

This gives the portrait a natural appearance therefore making it more convincing. The perplexity on the disciples’ faces suggests to the audience that Jesus has not yet revealed the name of his betrayer and that is why they seem to be agonizing. Leonardo makes Christ appear bigger than Bartholomew and Philip in the painting even though he is seated to show how infinite he is. He utilizes the concept of light in his painting and shading in an innovative way to influence his viewers’ perception of the disciples’ personalities (Raffoul, 12).

The dark shadow of Judas makes him appear evil; he “hangs” his head and appears to be withdrawn reflecting the fact that he is feeling guilty of betraying Jesus. The audience might interpret this as a disapproval of the betrayal. The dark shadow and his receding posture might also be interpreted by the audience as his way of hiding the secret that he is the one who will betray Jesus. The light falling on Jesus creates a halo effect which shows Christ’s holiness.

This halo effect is created by the curved line in the portrait which ends on top of Jesus’ head. Leonardo places eight rectangles in the portrait, four on the right and four on the left. The purpose of these dark-colored rectangles is to imply depth and give shape to the room. This depth makes the audience believe that the surface of the portrait is not flat. The lines moving back into the focal point on Christ’s head create a one point perspective which draws the audience’s attention to Christ and illuminates his supremacy.

The attention which Leonardo pays to the human anatomy enables him to portray the disciples’ shapes and proportions with precision as he makes them in a way that their physical and emotional reactions are intertwined in a convincing way. Their postures which appear natural makes them seem to be moving and interacting with each other and in the process reveal the emotional state in which they are in.

The fact that they are grouped and seem to be looking at each other implies that they are conversing thus bringing out the aspect of interaction. Leonardo brings out the aspect of narration in the portrait. An interconnection between the groups formed by the disciples exists thus bringing out flow and continuation in the narration of the story and the flow allows Leonardo to guide the eye of the audience to the painting.

The “guiding of the eye” is further facilitated by the disciples’ postures as they seem to have their hands pointed at Christ. The groups are also formed like triangles bringing out the concept of the Holy Trinity. The apparent movement of the disciples leads the audience to think that the artist is telling a story while the middle point is positioned at the eye level which makes the audience consider itself as being part of the portrait.

The aspect of being part of the painting makes the audience “feel” the confusion that the subjects in the painting are experiencing. Leonardo uses the natural light from the landscape outside which passes through the windows at the back of the portrait then falls on the table at the middle of where Christ is positioned.

The audience might interpret this to mean that Christ is the only one “in the light” as he alone knows who is going to betray him. The fact that Christ is the only one who looks composed in the room suggests the same. The manner in which light falls on objects in the room indicates what time of the day it is as the light is cast on the right side of the wall and not the left or the ceiling.

This fact might suggest that it is during sunset and that indeed the disciples are having supper. Leonardo uses value contrast .It is the alternation of dark and light colors. He creates this effect by forming a three dimension effect in the painting. The dimension in turn creates depth in the portrait.

The size of the rectangular windows reduces as the figures in the painting move towards the back towards the vanishing point. The figures also create a feeling of depth and the three dimensional aspect. Leonardo utilizes primary colors that include yellow, blue and green especially for the clothes although he also uses brown and white for the floors and the walls. The sharp contrast between red and blue colors on the cloak of Christ makes him stand out thereby drawing the viewer’s eye towards him.

Iconography is also represented in the painting by the use of the knife that Peter is holding and the small bag that Judas is holding. The bag symbolizes the payment that Judas receives for betraying Jesus. An artist can support the chances of the success of his message by using ethical, logical and emotional appeals and to accomplish this, he needs to be familiar with aspects of culture and the lives of humans. Leonardo had all the three qualities.

He was a credible artist as evidenced by his previous works and he knew how to appeal to the emotions of his audience by creating art that his audience could identify with. His painting’s composition was created in a way that it included elements that were factual for easy interpretation by the audience. To appear credible, an artist must show good will, ethical character and knowledge (Aristotle, 11).

The three aspects should be used together. Persuasion might not be achieved because if one portrays good will and credibility but lacks intelligence, it leaves room for the audience to doubt the artist’s intelligence. Credibility and intelligence alone are also not enough as the audience can question the motive of the artist.

Good will and intelligence leave the audience questioning the artist’s credibility. The power to persuade can be utilized for positive or negative intentions although it is easier to persuade people towards good than bad as individuals possess an innate disposition towards the truth (Aristotle, 7).

This fact means that art can be utilized to improve social life or equally destroy it by manipulating the audience’s thoughts and perceptions. This idea would be experienced in a case where the audience is unable to analyze or interpret messages by itself and can consequently be influenced by the most persuasive forms of art (Lucas, 6). Credibility is not the only element that determines the achievement of persuasion.

The success of the convincing efforts relies on the audience’s emotional state as one’s judgment can be affected by emotions. Leonardo’s attempt to equalize Christ with humans in his painting is successful as he portrays Christ in a human form thereby inspiring humans to feel united with Christ and sympathize with him at the thought of his betrayal. Visual communication is prone to unintentional creation of artistic imagery without intending to give any particular message.

It still ends in bringing out meaning that was not initially intended because people make their own interpretations about it. Attention has to be focused on the image’s composition as the suggested thought holds two types of meanings which are denotation and interpretation. Both meanings depend on the context of the analysis (Hariman and John, 52). Christians associate Christ with holy elements.

The associations explain why certain Christians see the “holy trinity” image in the painting. Certain theologians believe that the knife Peter is holding is symbolic of his future’s violent reaction during Jesus’ arrest when he cuts a soldier’s ear. The moment captured in the painting is supposed to be depicting the immediate activity that took place after Christ’s announcement of the last supper but critics argue that the meal refers to the Passover.

Analysts argue that the type of food on the table like the leavened bread is not usual in the Passover. This revelation is an example of a deduced meaning .A situation like this one employs logic in its interpretation. The food in the painting is different from the one traditionally eaten during the Passover and this implies that the event does not take place during the Passover.

The same idea applies to the bag that Judas is holding which the audience can interpret to be the payment that he receives after betraying Christ or the audience can associate it with the fact that Judas is the disciples’ treasurer. Leonardo Da Vinci successfully incorporates aspects that include the use of shapes, sizes, lighting and color into his painting therefore establishing communication with his audience.

Works Cited

Aristotle. n.d. The Art of Rhetoric, Megaphone, Book I-IV. Web.

Hariman, Robert, and John Lucaites. No Captions Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy, Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Print. Leonardo, Da Vinci. On Painting: An Anthology of Writings By Leonardo Da Vinci. Ed. Martin.

Kemp. New York. Yale University Press, 2001. Print.

Lucas, Peter. Ethics and Self-Knowledge: Respect for Self-Interpreting Agents, Preston, UK: Springer, 2011. Print.

Raffoul, François. The Origins of Responsibility, Indiana, USA: Indiana University Press, 2010. Print.

Rest, James. Moral Development in the Professions: Psychology and Applied Ethics, Moral Reasoning in Medicines, New Jersey, USA: Tailor & Francis e-Library, 2009. Print.

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The Psychology of Images

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