Hello ~ I’m Scott and welcome to your 5-minute vacation for June 18th. I share these snippets of our travels in the hope that my photos and stories will allow you to go on a vicarious vacation and “get away from it all,” if only for a moment. I appreciate you inviting me into your inbox today.
Here’s the previous 5-Minute Vacation if you missed it.
The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia and used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
When we visited Milan in 2003, we were within four blocks of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper without realizing it. Basically, we walked right past it. This past Memorial Day weekend, we decided to rectify that oversight.
The Last Supper. It’s become an icon of our modern Western culture and as befitting an icon, it frequently pops up in pop culture. For example, it’s referenced in:
Robert Altman’s MASH
Mel Brooks’ History of the World
The Simpsons’ “Thank God It’s Doomsday” episode
South Park’s “Margaritaville” episode
Annie Leibovitz’s promo photo for the second season of The Sopranos
Ron Howard’s film of Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code
And there are many others.
We’ve seen it dozens of times on the screen (big and small). What’s it like to see the original, in person?
My first impression was: it’s BIG! As in 29 ft wide by 15 ft tall (9 m wide by 5 m) BIG. iPhone screens, TV screens, even a movie theater screen doesn’t do it justice. For a sense of scale, think of a friend or loved one who’s 6 ft. tall (183 cm). Then imagine five of them laying head to foot. They would be just a few hairs longer than The Last Supper is wide.
The painting is in a refectory, a building that was originally used by the Dominican friars to eat, pray and meditate during their meals. Imagine being able to enjoy this painting at every meal.
Leonardo wasn’t the only one to paint the subject of The Last Supper from the Gospel of John but his version is the most celebrated. Why? I’d say it’s because Leonardo’s version does a better job of combining a dramatic moment with compositional tools to create a strong emotional response in the viewer.
For drama, Leonardo chose the moment after Jesus announces that one of his apostles will betray him and then shows the anger, shock and disbelief of the apostles.
Compositionally, Leonardo made it appear as if the windows on the west wall (camera left), the only windows in the refectory, were also the source of light for the space in the painting. Using light this way made the painting seem like it was in the “real” world of the refectory, not in some other painterly world, giving the viewer the illusion that they, Christ, and the apostles were in the same room.
To strengthen the illusion of everyone being in the same room, Leonardo used single-point perspective to make the painting appear as a continuation of the building. The single-point perspective also helped emphasize Christ. By placing the vanishing point behind Christ’s right ear, our eyes are drawn to Him. Placing Him in the center of a symmetrical, stable composition with the apostles divided in half on either side, added to the balance and symmetry of the design and further emphasized Him. By arranging the apostles in groups of three, Leonardo made the painting easier to read.
To achieve the luminosity he wanted, Leonardo used a painting technique that wasn’t normally used for paintings on walls. He achieved the luminosity he wanted but at a price.
The price was that the technique he used wasn’t suitable for the refectory’s wall. The result was that the painting began deteriorating almost immediately. Eventually, it had deteriorated so much that it wasn’t held in as much esteem as it is now. This is why the monks felt comfortable destroying Christ’s feet at the bottom of the painting to add a doorway.
Speaking of destruction: the painting was almost destroyed in WW2. On August 15, 1943, an Allied bomb struck and destroyed most of the building. Fortunately, both The Last Supper and the painting on the opposite wall were protected by walls of sandbags. Otherwise, they would probably have been destroyed.
On the wall opposite “The Last Supper”: “The Crucifixion” by Giovanni Donato Montorfano. Beautiful and appropriate for the space. Notice how this painting doesn’t seem to be a part of this building but is clearly in a different location.
By 1975, the painting had deteriorated to this. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. Used under Public Domain.
A 20-year restoration effort beginning in 1978 reversed the damage caused by previous restorations and restored the painting to a work as close as possible to Leonardo’s original. If you’d like more details about this effort, plus some cool photos, please visit the museum’s website here. If you want to get more detail about why Leonardo portrayed each apostle as he did, then please visit the museum’s website here.
“The Last Supper” is in the refectory (the yellow building on the left) next to Santa Maria delle Grazie. If it weren’t for the banner and the groups of people outside, you’d never know that something special was inside. This courtyard outside the refectory is where we met our tour guide and began the process to see the painting.
It’s a bit of a process to see the painting:
You have to buy tickets (obviously). Tickets can be purchased directly from the museum (Cenacolo Vinciano). However, since there are a limited number of tickets each day it’s easier to purchase a guided tour that includes the tickets. Plan at least a month ahead.
To pick up your ticket, you must present a valid ID (i.e. passport) and the name on the passport must match the name under which the ticket was purchased.
After picking up your ticket and storing any liquids in a free locker, you and your small group leave the ticket office and enter the museum through the door under the three flags.
After a security screening, you and your small group go through two rooms, waiting for several minutes in each one, while the humidity level is lowered.
After the desired humidity levels are achieved in the second room and the previous group has been ushered out of the refectory, you and your small group enter.
The Last Supper is on the right.
The Crucifixion by Giovanni Donato Montorfano is on the left.
You and your small group have only 15 minutes in the room.
It’s well worth it.
I know that’s a lot about The Last Supper. If you’ve made it this far, congratulations and I thank you for your perseverance. Moving on…
Since we only had 15 minutes with The Last Supper, what else did we do in Milan over our long weekend?
Frequent readers won’t be surprised that there was more art. But before we did more art, we needed sustenance.
There was pizza (of course!). And there were food tours, one of which included artisanal ice cream. Flavors included: hibiscus flowers infusion, pineapple and mint leaves; slated buttercream with Bourbon vanilla; robiola fresh cheese, raspberry jam and caramelized pistachios; and ricotta fresh cheese cream with honey and tonka bean. As good/interesting as those flavors were, my fave was the no-frills strawberry.
Suitably fortified, we saw more art. The musée Novecento had early 20th c. Modern art, the Pinocateca Brera’s collection spanned the 15th–20th centuries, including Mantegna’s Lamentation of Christ, and the Biblioteca Ambrosiana included a da Vinci Codex and a cartoon by Raphael.
Raphael’s cartoon for “The School of Athens.” In Raphael’s time (the 15th & 16th centuries), a cartoon was a full-sized preparatory drawing on strong, heavy paper (Italian “cartone”). This cartoon was a study for the fresco “The School of Athens” in the Vatican. Like “The Last Supper,” it’s BIG! It makes even an 80” TV screen look small.
Not all the art was two-dimensional. Milan’s Duomo is a blend of Romanticism and Gothic styles. Construction began in 1386 and was declared finished on Jan. 6, 1965. That’s 579 years ~ wow. I hope my house doesn’t take that long to be built.
Our tour of the Duomo coincided with a Sunday service. I was surprised that tours were allowed on a Sunday but this meant we got to experience the sounds and aromas of a service.
Then it was up to the roof to meander amongst the forest of 135 spires, 150 gargoyles, flying buttresses and more. No wonder it took 579 years to complete.
I hope you enjoyed this vicarious vacation in Milan. If you get a chance to visit, keep in mind that there’s more to do than just art. For instance, you could catch a show at Teatro La Scala, learn to make pasta, enjoy the nightlife in Navigli and take a day trip to Italy’s Lake District. But only after seeing The Last Supper, of course.
Until next time ~
Ciao!