3 Review(s)

The enduring power of a great work of art lies in its ability to find a home in our imagination,where it will always retain a measure of freshness and mystery, even as its physical selffights a losing battle against time and decay. Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper epitomizesthis paradox.Whether rendered in oil on canvas or board, as prints, sculpture, or even as reproductionson tiles, da Vinci’s legendary painting, The Last Supper, continues to inspire artists fromaround the world centuries after it was painted in situ at the refectory of the Dominicanmonastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.The thirty-five Indian artists represented in this book, too, have come under its spell. Theyspan several generations, have evolved distinctive styles, inhabit varied geographicallocations, and work in a variety of media—whether it’s Himmat Shah’s larger-than-lifeJesus or Vaikuntam’s ethnic transposal of the protagonists, Madhvi Parekh’s vibrant folkevocation or Krishen Khanna’s masterful literary interpretation. As Ranjit Hoskote says inhis introduction, ‘the spiritual impulse that animated da Vinci’s painting has travelled longdistances in space and time: it assumes, and will continue to assume, unpredictable avatars’.