The "A Painting For The Ages" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about a painting that is recognizable to many people all over the world.  Painted by Renaissance-era artist Leonardo da Vinci, "The Last Supper" depicts Jesus's last meal with his apostles before his betrayal by Judas.  

Scupture of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo was born in 1452 and achieved mastery in sculpting and painting by the age of 26.  Soon after he turned 26 he was com- missioned by the Duke of Milan to paint a mural for the Santa Maria Delle Grazie monastery.  The mural ended up being what we know today as "The Last Supper."  This masterpiece would be revered and cherished for hundreds of years.  Many others tried to duplicate the painting on canvas as well as duplicate it in stained glass.  Many great copies exist, but none are as historic as the painting by da Vinci.  Da Vinci began work on the painting around 1495 and spent about three years completing the mural.  But, when he painted it he used the wrong type of paint.  Instead of painting it in the "Fresco" method, which is applying paint to a layer of fresh plaster that lets the paint's pigments bind with the wall and resists chipping and fading over time, he tried painting the mural in oil and tempera.  This allowed him to achieve something quite different with a type of chromatic luminosity that had not been seen before.  

"The Last Supper" painted by Leonardo da Vinci

But, the experiment was a disaster.  The painting began to flake and chip after a couple of years.  Repair work did more harm than good over time.  Then in the late 18th century, Napoleon rode through Italy with his soldiers who used the stable at the Santa Maria Delle Grazie monastery, where the painting was at the time.  It wasn't clear what damage was done, but it showed how much value paintings received at that time.  Then, during a flood in the 19th century, mold damage began to occur.  The tempera/oil method that da Vinci had used provided a poor amount of adhesion between paint and plaster.  This left a thin opening between the surfaces that trapped humidity and made the painting susceptible to molding.  

A stained glass representation of "The Last Supper".

Over the years art restor- ationists struggled to correct all these mistakes that occurred since the painting was finished.  Then World War II arrived and the Santa Maria Delle Grazie was nearly destroyed during an Allied bombing campaign.  Nearby residents suspected something like that might happen so they surrounded the mural with sandbags, scaffolding and other items to protect it from damage.  "The Last Supper" was not harmed, but damage to the building exposed the painting to the elements.  Luckily, that too caused no harm.  Art historians performed restorations on the mural over the centuries with the work being finished in 1999.  Some argued that there were so many changes from the original that little remained of di Vinci's original work.  With all that, "The Last Supper" endured over it's lifetime, a period of over 500 years.  It's a miracle that it still looks as good as it does.  But, then...it is a work of God!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.