The Last Supper (Milan)

When Don and I first started talking about seeing Ashley in Florence, his sole request was that we saw Leonardo DaVinci's The Last Supper. Talking to friends about the trip, Ellen recommended we fly in and out of Milan and spend the day before or at the end of our trip in Milan and see The Last Supper -- but make sure we order our tickets as soon as they go on sale because they sell out quickly. She also highly recommended we book the tour in English.

We heeded her advice and stalked the ticket sales website for weeks prior to our trip. Unlike our experiences in Siena, and when we nearly did not see Michelangelo's David, we had our Last Supper tickets 3 and a half months before our trip and built our trip around those tickets.

I booked the 11:30 AM tour to allow time to find the right place in an unfamiliar city. Having walked the route the night before, we could have booked the earlier tour, but this worked out wonderfully as it rained the most while we were inside the chapel, and was finished by the time we left.

On our stroll to Cenacola Vinciano Museum we were on the look out for breakfast. When we passed The California Bakery (and were still running about an hour early), I knew we found exactly what we needed. While in Florence, I made eggs for breakfast every morning, but our room in Milan did not have a kitchen so that option was out. California Bakery offered a good, American breakfast. We both had French Toast with fruit.

This picture of Jesus on the cross
implies it was an indoor ceremony

By the time we were finished eating breakfast, it was pouring and we did not have an umbrella. This was only the second time on our trip where were caught in the rain.

We waited in the Church of Dominican Santa Maria delle Grazie, the church next door to The Last Supper while we waited for our turn. They want you to arrive early so things move smoothly, yet don't have a dry area to wait. I would have benefited from a tour of this church. It mostly seemed like an odd assortment of art, such as Mary holding a rosary -- does she change "Hail Mary, full of Grace" as she holds it?

I can't complain about having a dry place to wait, only complaining about my lack of appreciation for what I saw seeing.

In an effort to preserve The Last Supper, only 35 people at a time are allowed in the vast room. We met our group, which included a tour group of 20 people traveling with their own tour guide (they met her on the other side of the room). 

The blue flag in front of the building indicates it is a UNESCO site. Good to know for future travels.

The quick version: in August 1943, this area was heavily bombed. It was rebuilt in the Gothic style. It took 22 years to restore The Last Supper (ending in 1997, just prior to our last trip to Italy). The brighter parts are a result of the restoration. When Leonardo painted it 525 years ago, it would have all been bright. Today we only see about 22% of Leonardo's original paint. 

Leonardo used white led to cover all his mural. It was designed to fade away, but also made it more vibrant. The tempura paint used gave it a brightness that we don't see today. Within twenty years it was already starting to fade.

Last night I was in New York City. I saw a tiny reproduction of The Last Supper in a restaurant and was able to recall some of what I learned to a friend.

Leonardo chose to capture one specific moment in the gospels: John 13:21: One of you will betray me.

Each of the 12 is unique. Each one tells a story of that exact moment. Each one has a reaction.

There are four groups of three. Ten of the twelve die as martyrs. Judas dies from suicide. Only John (the one who Jesus loved most) lives be 104 and dies from natural causes. He is the only one without a beard, and is seated on Jesus's right side.

Bartholomew is beheaded.

James the Lesser is stoned.

Andrew, Jesus's first apostle, is crucified

Judas the Traitor is the only one not looking at us, he is clutching his purse of silver with his elbow on the table (an arrogant thing to do).

St. Peter with the white beard is in a complicated position with the knife. He will try to protect Jesus by cutting off a guard's ear. Jesus will then do his last miracle by putting the ear back on the soldier.

St. John appears younger and lighter than Judas.

There are three windows behind Jesus.

Thomas has his finger up. He is the one who will doubt his resurrection unless he can put his finger in the wound.

James the Creator has his arms open wide. He will be the first martyr.

Philip (in red) touches his heart to show his love and affection.

The last three are trying to understand. Alas, here is where we ran out of time and turned to the other painting in the room. I looked it up:

The last three are Matthew, Jude Thaddeus, and Simon the Zealot. Simon is seeking some sort of answer to Jesus's declaration.

This website has more insights we did not cover.

The room was originally designed as the dining hall for the monks. You can see in this picture the room was enormous, which a high, vaulted ceiling. Some of the frescos have been restored giving the sense that the walls would have been covered in paintings back in the 16th century. There are three windows in the room, the only three sources of light before electricity was invented.

The other wall has Crucifixion by Giovanni Donato Montorfano.

Montorfano worked on wet plaster and painted it all in 1495. By contrast, it took Leonardo daVinci three years to create his painting on the opposite wall, also starting in 1495. 

This painting depicts good versus evil. there is a scorpion in front of the one bandit, and an angel around the good one. At this point, I was barely listening because I was still absorbing The Last Supper.

We were being ushered out of the room so the next group of 35 people could hear the same spiel from another guide. We were ushered to a room with a copy of the Last Summer (poor Montorfano's work was never mentioned again).

The first guide took her group leaving us with about 15 people instead of 30.

In the summer of 1940 the first bomb hit Milan. All 55 stained glass windows in the Duomo were removed and kept in a bomb shelter for seven years. Americans bombed Italy heavily. Remember, at that time the Italian government was siding with Hitler's friend, Mussolini. Half of the buildings in Milan were lost.

Anticipating bombs could hit and destroy this building, sandbags were placed covering the two paintings (okay, so Cruxifiction was mentioned again on the tour).

Here are some more crazy facts about The Last Supper and how it is miraculous it has survived for over 500 years.

Due to bombings, there was no ceiling for four years.

During Napoleon's reign, horses were stored inside.

It was originally a dining hall. A hold was cut in the center of the painting so around 1650 a door could be built giving easier access to the kitchen, thus taking out Jesus's feet. I had to look at my pictures -- sure enough Jesus's feet are not visible. Fortunately, he preserved his sketches. Also fortunately, Queen Elizabeth II was a huge fan of his work and has the sketch that includes his feet. This website as a picture of his feet. His feet are together, as a symbol of his readiness to spring into action.

In the 1800s, this space was turned into a museum. There was talk of removing it from the wall to preserve it. 

During WWI it was a hospital for soldiers.

There are special VIP evenings to see it.

Leonardo was not trained as an artist. He did not attend the Academy or become a Grand Master. There is a brilliant picture taken in 1895 of students studying his art, with easels set up to copy The Last Supper. 

There are about 34-39 layers of paint in this picture. He had to wait for each layer to dry before painting the next layer. The monks got a bit impatient with his process. As a result, you cannot see any brush strokes.

Leonardo only painted about 15 pictures. He was a scientist at heart. He opened human bodies at night in secret to study how they worked. In 2014 one of his theories about blood flowing in the heart was finally recognized as accurate. 

In 1726 the first restoration began. In 1977 a 22 year restoration was begun, the most recent to date. The artist, Pinan Brimbilla Barcilon, died in 2020 at the age of 95. She was a frequent visitor to The Last Supper offering up tours -- how amazing would that have been! 

Prior to this I had seen copies of The Last Supper, but did not appreciate it. This was perhaps the best tour I have ever taken perhaps because of the narrow focus and the ability to dive in deep. We spent an hour learning about The Last Supper, and still only scratched the surface. How often can you say that about a piece of art?

Later that day we went on a walking tour of Milan. Our guide mentioned use the Fibonacci Sequence, or Golden Ratio. Yes, our guide used different terms to describe this, but it stuck hearing it a second time in the same day.