Last Supper

Last Supper

Il Cenacolo

View: Interior of the refectory during restoration work on the Last Supper

New Testament; saints; Apostles; Jesus Christ; Sforza family

Mural painting in Milan created for his patron Duke Ludovico Sforza and his duchess Beatrice d'Este. It represents the scene of The Last Supper as narrated in the Gospel of John 13:21, when Jesus announces that one of his Twelve Apostles would betray him. It covers the back wall of the dining hall (refectory) at the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The lunettes above the main painting, formed by the triple arched ceiling of the refectory, are painted with Sforza coats-of-arms. It was painted on a dry wall rather than on wet plaster, so it is not a true fresco. Because a fresco cannot be modified as the artist works, Leonardo instead chose to seal the stone wall with a layer of pitch, gesso and mastic, then paint onto the sealing layer with tempera. Because of the method used, the piece began to deteriorate a few years after Leonardo finished it.

Leonardo da Vinci (Italian painter, 1452-1519)

Description: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

1495-1498 (creation); 1978-1999 (restoration)

Fredlund, William

publicDomain

part of Santa Maria delle Grazie

tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic (wall mural)

15 ft (height) x 29 ft (width)

mural painting (visual work)

leon124x.jpg

Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan, Lombardy, Italy); Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie 2

Renaissance