The Last Supper, Leonardo Da Vinci
- Kat K
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Housed in the refectory of the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan Italy, sits one of Da Vinci's most recognizable and celebrated works. Which has recently been spotted in The Devil Wears Prada 2, where it is spectacularly displayed and discussed by Stanley Tucci and Anne Hathaway's characters.
This particular piece of work is such an extraordinary achievement that it makes all paintings on the subject by his predecessor's pale in comparison, due to his combination of different genres, and the use of many of his technical innovations. The piece was commissioned as a part of renovations on the church and its convent buildings, by Leonardo's patron Ludovico Sforza, who was the Duke of Milan at the time, and was a notable patron of the arts in Milan.
The Painting
The painting represents the scene of the Last Supper of Jesus, with the 12 Apostles, as told in the Gospel of John. Da Vinci follows the appropriate conventions in depicting the event, but he also made innovative strokes within the pieces, that helps it stand out from other previous depictions. His handling of space, the mastery of perspective, treatment of motion and complex displays of human emotion, gives the apostles their own character and behavior. This tied to Leonardo's belief that posture, gesture and expression, within paintings, should connect to how each character would react in conjunction to their personality. Another feature that separated this rendition of the Last Supper to others, is the choice that Leonardo made to not imbue Jesus with the customary halo.
Da Vinci's Techniques and the Materials He Used
When painting this piece, Da Vinci decided to try an experimental technique of using tempera mixed with oil, onto dry plaster, which allowed him to rework and refine the piece. This meant that the pigments were not permanently adhered to the wall itself, and in a few short years led to the deterioration of the piece, due to the flaking of the paint, as soon as two decades after its completion. It has received regular restoration and preservation work over the centuries, though through these attempts it has still remained fragile, and some of Leonardos artistic qualities have been lost because of the constant need for restoration. Early sketches of the entire composition and the central group are on a single page that now resides in Windsor Castle.
In the Centuries Since its Completion
Aside from the deterioration due to the techniques used in the painting, other events within the convent, as well as external factors, has also added to the loss of the original piece. This began with the everyday use of the convent, including soot from candles to the overall dampness of the space. The doorway under the painting was added in 1652, which removed Jesus' feet and damaged the paint and plaster. This doorway was later bricked up. In 1800 the room flooded, since this room already had a history of dampness, there was already proof that this would affect the painting negatively. And finally, during WWII the refectory was struck by allied bombing, it had been protected from splinters but may have suffered damage due to the vibrations of the bombs.
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