Anatomy of a masterpiece …

… A Multi-Layered Drama - WSJ. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The sun in Leonardo’s conception is crucial to communicating the most important aspect of the entire fresco: Jesus’ impending death as a consequence of the betrayal he announces. Leonardo uses the relatively new technique of linear perspective, placing the vanishing point such that if Jesus turned to look out at us it would be between his eyes. More than a pictorial device, it reinforces the Renaissance idea that linear perspective, with its basis in mathematical reason and the principles of vision, leads one toward God.