Today Holy Thursday we remember the supper of Jesus with the apostles during the Passover, preceding his death. One of Leonardo da Vinci’s best known works is dedicated to this important moment: “The Last Supper”. It represents by far one of the most important works of art of all time, both for its innovative power and for the impact it had on artists of all eras. Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” comes to life thanks to three Oscars
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Leonardo represents the most dramatic moment of the Gospel when Christ announces the betrayal of one of the apostles “In truth I tell you one of you will betray me”. It is an agitated scene around the immobile fulcrum constituted by the figure of Jesus, which refers to Christ the Judge of the Last Judgment. Around him converge the apostles arranged in groups of three, according to the different reactions to the words of Christ: of question, of scandal, of fear, of emotion, “the motions of the soul”. Leonardo’s Last Supper
The refectory of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie is an integral part of the fifteenth-century architecture. It was the subject of renovations by the great architect and sculptor Donato Bramante, who created the church gallery. On the north wall of the refectory there is the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, which I made during his long stay in Milan, between 1495 and 1497.
In 1494 Leonardo received the commission for the work, linked to the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a place dear to the Moro, intended for the celebration of the Sforza family, where Bramante had just finished working. The work proceeded with the decoration of the refectory, a rectangular room where the Dominican friars ate their meals. It was decided to fresco the minor walls with traditional themes. A Crucifixion, for which Donato Montorfano was called, who worked out a traditional composition, already completed in 1495, and a Last Supper entrusted to Leonardo. In this work, which relieves him of the imminent economic problems, Leonardo poured as a summa all the studies he completed in those years, representing his masterpiece. Leonardo’s Horse, history of the unfinished work of the universal genius
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Leonardo drew on the Florentine tradition of the cenacles, reinterpreting it in an extremely original way with a greater emphasis on the dramatic moment in which Christ affirms “Some of you will betray me” and on the ‘motions of the soul’ of the troubled apostles. They are portrayed in groups of three, as a series of successive emotional waves, with the isolated and dominant figure of Christ in the center. Leonardo changed the traditional iconography by choosing not to represent Judas alone on one side of the table, but next to the others on the same side facing the viewer. The technique
As is well known, Leonardo was not at ease with the fresco technique, since the fast drying times of the plaster required a decisive and rapid stroke, not compatible with long studies, subsequent glazing and his very fine brushstroke. This is why Leonardo invents a mixed technique of tempera and oil on two layers of plaster, which slows down the execution phases of the work, allowing him to render greater chromatic harmony and the effects of light and transparency dear to him. The work was completed in 1498, when it was mentioned in Luca Pacioli’s De Divina Proportione. How much do you know Leonardo Da Vinci
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The experiment turns out to be dramatically unsuitable for a humid environment such as the refectory, with the wall communicating with the kitchens. Already in 1517 Antonio de Beatis noted the first losses of color, which at the time of Vasari were already evident. Since then, restorations and repaintings have taken place, as well as extremely dramatic events during the Napoleonic occupation and the Second World War, which had delivered an extremely compromised masterpiece, which was remedied, as far as possible, by the extensive restoration completed in 1999. Where The Last Supper is located
Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper is kept today in the refectory of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. The fresco, which shows particularly fragile conditions, is normally subject to a regime of contingent visits. Since December 2014, the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities has been managing the Museo del Cenacolo Vinciano through the Lombardy Museum Complex, which in December 2019 became the Regional Museum Directorate. In 2019 it was visited by 445 728 people, making it the fifteenth most visited in Italy. The new lighting
The Last Supper can now be seen in a new light, thanks to a LED system that saves energy, pollutes less and helps improve the micro-environmental conditions of the upper room. Leonardo’s work is in fact extremely delicate and for this reason the visits are limited. The Last Supper is the flagship of the city, the way to place oneself on the international scene, this is Leonardo’s first important composition. The new lighting shows a new Cenacle. After the restoration in 1999 the work stopped being gloomy and Leonardo began to be the artist of light. The new lights favor this reading.
