The Last Supper is one of the most famous paintings in the history of fine art.
It is a mural by the Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci, who painted it during the period from 1495 to 1498.
The painting represents the scene of the Last Supper of Christ Jesus, peace be upon him, with the twelve apostles, precisely at the moment when Jesus announced that one of his apostles would betray him.
Due to the methods used to restore the painting during previous eras, a variety of environmental factors, and intentional damage, only minor fragments of the original painting remain today despite several restoration attempts, the latest of which was in 1999. The Last Supper is the size of a painting
. 4.6m x 8.8m, and covers one of the walls of the refectory at Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery in Milan, Italy, although the room was not a refectory at the time Leonardo da Vinci painted the painting.
Da Vinci was busy painting the “Last Supper” for 3 years, but he did not work on it continuously, and a document dated 1497 indicates that the painting was almost completed on that date.
One story says that one of the officials in the monastery complained about Leonardo da Vinci’s delay in finishing the painting, which angered the latter, who wrote a letter to the abbot, in which he explained that he was struggling to find the perfect evil face for Judas, and that if he did not find a face that corresponded to what was in his mind , it will use the features of the person who complained.
The painting suffered from several environmental factors and conditions that led to its appearance faded in the seventies, so the restoration process began in 1978. The restoration process lasted
for 21 years, and upon its completion in 1999, and the unveiling of the “Last Supper” to the public, the restorers faced several criticisms, due to the change of some colors. And their degrees, in addition to modifying the features of some people in the painting.
The public who loves plastic art needs to book in advance before seeing the “Last Supper” painting in Milan, provided that the period of their visit to the place and their stay in front of it does not exceed 15 minutes only.