Santa Maria delle Grazie
The Gothic church that houses....
Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, one of the world's most famous images.
They only allow a small group of people into the church at once, which I loved because it made it more of an intimate experience. You had about 15 minutes (almost) "alone" with this wondrous work of art.
Taking it in.
For some reason, I expected this to be some refined oil painting on canvas in an ornate cathedral. Instead, it was pained directly onto the wall of a nondescript dining hall of a former refectory of the church's adjacent convent. Which I think almost added to it's allure.
Da Vinci worked on this from 1492-1498
Due to this Da Vinci painting the wall in layers, as he would on a canvas, instead of applying pigment to wet plaster as most artists do when using the fresco technique, this painting began to deteriorate within 6 years of completion. A 20 year restoration project was completed in 1999.
On the other end of the dining hall is Giovanni Donato da Montorfano's The Crucifixion completed in 1495. It was customary for the dining halls of Dominican monasteries to have a Crucifixion at one end of the dining hall and a Last Supper on the other.
After leaving the room where The Last Supper is housed, there was a small display which showed the painstaking efforts the Milanese took to preserve this beloved painting during WWII. As you can see here, they put up scaffolding and anti-aircraft protection. Here it is in the process....
And here it is fully protected as well as they were able.
Sure enough, the bombs came and the church was nearly reduced to rubble. But miraculously, The Last Supper survived.
Verdict: And for that reason, among others, it is worth seeing if you can. They only allow 30 people in at a time, so tickets are timed and sell out quickly. Plan to buy your ticket 3 months in advance in order to see this magnificent work.
Cost: $15
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