“The Last Supper” plot in the iconostases of the Eastern Opillia churches of the second half of the 18th - the middle of the 19th century. Artistic and iconographic features

Abstract

A detailed analysis of the theme of “The Last Supper”, which is one of the
compositions included in the structure of the iconostasis and depicts the sacrament
of the Eucharist, is made. For the study the iconostases of the churches of the
Eastern Opillia of the second half of the 18th – the middle of the 19th century were
selected. It is stated that the icons of the plot have the mandatory and additional constituent elements. The mandatory one, the one with the main message, is the
image of the 12 apostles and Jesus Christ (in the center of the composition) sitting
around the table, a bowl and bread on the table. It is found that the location of
the apostles is not permanent, with the exception of John and Peter (near Christ),
Judas (sitting from the edge of the table). Additional items include tableware items
(plates, knives, plugs, glasses, pots, fish images), elements of architecture in the
background, curtains, lamps. It was determined that two types of images of the
“The Last Supper” plot developed: the first one preserves the national traditions
of iconography of previous centuries (interpretation of figures, saturated color,
laconicism of composition), and the second, in which we see new tendencies
formed under the influence of Western European painting (complex angles of
figures, light pastel colors, lots of details).
Keywords: icon, iconography, coloration, composition, the plot “The Last
Supper”, artistic features, interpretation