The Last Supper 1568

El Greco painted this rendition of ‘The Last Supper’ using oil on canvas, a common medium that enabled a rich layering of colors and textures. Look closely, and you’ll notice how El Greco applied the paint. It is in these material choices and painting techniques that the artwork's essence resides. Oil paint allows for luminosity and depth, capturing the spiritual intensity of the depicted scene, and his application of the paint is not merely representational, but expressive. The elongated figures, a hallmark of El Greco's style, are achieved through deliberate brushstrokes that stretch and distort the human form, conveying a sense of otherworldly drama. El Greco was clearly influenced by the Byzantine traditions of icon painting, where elongated figures and stylized forms were common, and the Renaissance emphasis on humanism. His unique painting style suggests a deep engagement with both craft and fine art traditions. Paying attention to materials, making, and context allows us to understand the full meaning of an artwork.