DAY 35

A PICTURE’S WORTH 1000 200 WORDS

The Last Supper

LEONARDO DA VINCI, 1495-1497

Leonardo da Vinci began The Last Supper in 1495 at the request of his patron, Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. It took da Vinci 3 years to finish the expansive mural, which is almost 30 feet wide. One of the world’s most beloved paintings, it is an ambitious work of art in terms of both composition and execution.

Traditionally, murals of this size were rendered with raw pigment and water on a base of wet plaster—a technique known as “fresco.” Ever the innovator, da Vinci decided to try painting on a dry wall instead. His non-traditional masterpiece was magnificent, but unfortunately it did not preserve well. The Last Supper began deteriorating not long after it was completed, and it has required ongoing (and occasionally controversial) preservation efforts.

The Last Supper is often praised as a textbook example of one-point perspective (page 98). Notice that lines of the receding walls point toward the face of Jesus Christ. Arms outstretched, central to the iconic scene, Jesus appears calm. The twelve disciples around him, however, are distressed—and rightfully so; he has just predicted that before daybreak, one of them will betray him. Look carefully at the reactions of the men. Who do you think is the guilty one? —DDG