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If visiting Milan, one attraction that should not be missed is Leonardo da Vinci’s original painting, The Last Supper (Il Cenacolo). A UNESCO World Heritage site, the painting is located in the refectory of the convent at Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Tickets
Advance booking is required to see the painting, and purchasing tickets well ahead of time is a must. You can do this through a link on the official website. Tickets are €15 (as of June 2023). It’s open daily except Mondays.
To collect your ticket at The Last Supper Museum (Cenacolo Vinciano), you have to show up 20 minutes before your scheduled tour time. Once you pick up your ticket, you wait in a room until your group is called. You’re then given 15 minutes to view the painting. No flash photography and no selfie sticks are allowed.
The Last Supper
On the north wall of the refectory is The Last Supper. Leonardo worked on the painting from 1495 to 1498 but not continuously. It portrays the exact reaction of each apostle immediately after Jesus said he would be betrayed (John 13:21) and also contains lots of symbolism and hidden references. It’s said that Leonardo even used the face of someone who complained about the delays in completing the painting as the face of Judas.
Because it was painted directly on a wall and in tempera, The Last Supper deteriorated quickly. In 1652, a doorway was cut through the bottom of the painting, which was by then unrecognizable. The doorway has since been filled in, but it cut off the portion of the painting showing Jesus’ feet, which were believed to be in the position used in crucifixion. The painting was also damaged by the Allied bombing of Milan in 1943.
Thanks to all of these factors plus others such as humidity, The Last Supper has been restored so many times that almost nothing of the original painting exists to this day. Still, it remains one of the most popular and reproduced paintings of all time.
Crucifixion
On the wall opposite The Last Supper is another painting, Crucifixion, by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano. It was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, and painted in 1495. Leonardo later added the faces of many members of Sforza’s family into the painting.
Santa Maria delle Grazie
Next to the refectory is the main church, Santa Maria delle Grazie, which is also included in the UNESCO listing. It was built between 1463 and 1497 after being commissioned by Francesco I Sforza. Ludovico Sforza later decided to turn the church into the Sforza family burial site.
