Leonardo's Last Supper

One of the new discoveries which made Milano more interesting to me was the realization of the role that Leonardo da Vinci had in the history of the city. I have always been impressed by Leonardo’s imaginative machines and a touch disappointed that he used his engineering abilities to so skillfully create machines of war.

It turns out that Leonardo was an important figure in Milano. There is a statue of him in the little piazza opposite La Scala, the famous opera house of Milan.

Milan is home to his most famous work, if not one of the most famous works of all time, his fresco of the Last Supper. The fresco is in the refectory of the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. It is unique for the time since, rather than depict the scene after Judas is revealed as the one to betray Christ as was typical for the period, Leonardo chose instead to depict the moment before that, when Jesus revealed that he would be betrayed, but had not yet indicated his betrayer.

Leonardo began painting his masterpiece in the late 15^th century using a new technique of painting on dry plaster rather than wet. This allowed him more time to create exactly the work he wanted, but the technique was flawed and the mural began to deteriorate even in his lifetime. It was restored a number of times over the centuries, but was still in very bad shape. It didn’t help that the building was severely damaged by bombing during WWII and the fresco was open to the environment for many years until the building was repaired. The most recent restoration was completed in 1999.

In order to preserve the mural, only small groups of approximately 30 people are allowed in to view it at one time. You go through a series of isolated, climate controlled rooms before you enter the main chamber to help isolate the mural from the exterior environment and to remove some of the humidity and other contamination that visitors might bring with them. Once there you have 15 minutes to view the mural before you are rotated out for the next group. I didn’t experience any sudden conversion. However, I will say that it was just pretty awesome to be in the presence of such an important piece of art. To be able to sit and contemplate it was special. Of course, absolutely no pictures are allowed. However, I was allowed to take a picture of the church next door to which it is attached, so here that is.