second only to Mona Lisa As Leonardo da Vinci’s most astonishing achievement, last supper (1495-98) is almost as famous for his fallen state as for his enduring power. Today, its details are almost unrecognizable, and it is a ghost of its original self, suspended on the edge of decay, almost as present as the painting. It is, so to speak, a victim of Leonardo’s genius, a subversive triumph of art that refuses to accept limitations.
Even at a time when the boundaries between subjects such as art and science were narrower than today, Leonardo (1452-1519) still stood out as a quintessential Renaissance figure. He is known to have filled dozens of notebooks with thousands of drawings and notes on anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, and paleontology, not to mention futuristic designs for flying machines and modern weapons of war (tanks, submarines, repeating firearms) that far exceeded 15th-century technology.
These efforts supported Leonardo’s aesthetic endeavours, but their number suggests that he was more interested in science than art, a suspicion heightened by the numerous unfinished commissions he left behind. last supperHowever, Leonardo’s use of unconventional techniques ruined this plan.
Restaurant located in the Dominican convent in front of Santa Maria delle Grazie church in Milan, last supper The work was commissioned in 1495 by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Its theme is the Passover meal that Christ celebrated with his disciples shortly before his arrest and crucifixion, capturing his revelation that one of his followers would betray him while he offered bread and wine as symbols of his body and blood, originating in the Eucharistic rite.
Typically, murals are painted with water-based pigments over freshly applied plaster, which sets quickly, forcing the artist to work on only a small section at a time. This approach was at odds with Leonardo’s methodical blending of tonal gradients to create his signature sfumato effect. So he switched to tempera Alsecothat is, a dry floor containing plaster, asphalt, mastic (a resin), and white lead paint.
It turns out that this is not suitable last supperwhich is located on a thin exterior wall and is susceptible to temperature and humidity fluctuations. The painting was damaged by steam and smoke from the refectory kitchen and smoke from the candles that illuminated the interior. In 1517, the writer Antonio de Beatis noted last supperIt was in poor condition; in 1568, the famous biographer Giorgio Vasari declared it to be in complete ruins.
Over the centuries, many attempts at restoration have been made, sometimes making the situation worse. The earliest attempt was made in 1726; the most recent, completed in 1998 after 20 years of work, stabilized the frescoes by reversing previous renovations.
last supper And endured other indignities. In 1652, a door was opened inside. In 1796, Napoleon’s troops captured Milan and turned it into stables. In 1800, the dining room was flooded with two feet of water and green algae grew over the entire painting. On 16 August 1943, the Royal Air Force destroyed the roof of the building and almost razed the monastery to the ground; only sandbags and mattresses piled on top of the murals saved it from complete destruction.
Leonardo’s perfectionism has been a hallmark of his career from the beginning. Born the illegitimate son of a notary in the Tuscan town of Vinci, he entered the studio of the Florentine painter and sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio and became an artist. Garzoneor errand boy, at the age of 14, with a formal apprenticeship obtained three years later. His work first appeared in the lower left corner of Verrocchio’s Angel this baptism of christ (1472-1475), this addition was so splendid as the rest of the scene that Verrocchio is said to have hung up his paintbrush forever when he saw it. Although this story is apocryphal, it highlights Leonardo’s precocious skill. At the age of 20, he joined a guild of painters named after Saint Luke, the patron saint of artists.
Leonardo’s restless ambition conflicted with his art from the beginning. Two early committees, including Worship of the Magi (1478-1482), Leonardo was abandoned when he moved to Milan to work for Sforza. In letters to the Duke seeking the job, Leonardo advertised his services as an engineer and weapons designer before mentioning that he could paint.
Other unfinished projects include saint jerome in the wilderness (c. 1480-1490) and a huge equestrian monument commissioned by Sforza in 1482. It stands 28 feet tall, and it was only developed into a full-size clay model after the bronze promised to be cast was used to produce the cannon.
Another mural, Battle of Anghiari (1505), commissioned for the Hall of Five Hundred in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, suffered last supperof. This time, Leonardo da Vinci applied oil paint to a thick waxy base, causing the paint to flow. To speed drying, he placed a lit brazier in front of the painting, which preserved the lower half of the painting but turned the top section into a mess of color. The work was eventually destroyed during the expansion of the hall by Giorgio Vasari, who painted his own frescoes on it.
last supper A decisive break from other approaches to the subject, usually placing the subject on either side of the table. Leonardo placed them all behind the table, facing out. Christ stands, occupying the center, without the traditional halo to indicate his divinity, a gesture consistent with the Renaissance humanist revival that emphasized the mortality of Jesus.
His head marks a forced perspective vantage point, leading to the three windows in the background that offer views of the landscape beyond. Leonardo is flanked by six followers in groups of three on either side of Jesus. Most people, when informed of news of betrayal within their own ranks, will make gestures as if to say, “Is it me?” The real villain, Judas, is isolated on the far left, clutching the reward for betraying Jesus.
Yet Christ remained calm, as did his youngest disciple, John, who slept on Peter’s shoulder on Jesus’ left side. There is a V-shaped opening between Jesus and John, which some claim is the vaginal symbol of Mary Magdalene.
Leonardo describes Christ as the reverse of a pyramid Vthe fulcrum of a symmetrical, Platonic composition in which certain elements – the windows, the apostles’ spacing and the triangle of Jesus – are allusions to the triad of the Holy Trinity.
today last supper is a tulle veil of shape that almost disappears into the wall. Yet its awe-inspiring power remains undiminished, a testament to its boundless talent.
