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Leonardo da Vinci’s original painting of The Last Supper (Il Cenacolo) is a must-see if visiting Milan. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the painting is located in the refectory of the Dominican convent at Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Leonardo’s Last Supper Museum
Advance booking is required to see the painting, and purchasing tickets well ahead of time is a must. You can purchase them on the official website of Leonardo’s Last Supper Museum (Museo del Cenacolo Vinciano). Admission is €15 for adults over 25, €2 for students age 18-25, and free for kids under 18 (as of May 2025). It’s open daily except Mondays.
On the day of your tour, you have to show up 20 minutes before your scheduled tour time. After checking in and collecting 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
The Last Supper is on the north wall of the refectory. The painting measures 4.6 x 8.8 meters (15 feet 1 inch x 28 feet 10 inches). Leonardo (1452-1519) worked on it from 1495 to 1498 but not continuously. It portrays the exact reaction of each apostle immediately after Jesus told them he would be betrayed (John 13:21). It 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 during the Crucifixion. The painting was also damaged during an Allied bombing raid on August 15, 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. It’s also considered one of Leonardo’s most famous works and a masterpiece of the Renaissance.
Crucifixion
On the wall opposite The Last Supper is Crucifixion by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano (c. 1460-1502/03). It was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza (1452-1508), the Duke of Milan, and painted in 1495. Leonardo later added the faces of many members of Sforza’s family to the painting.
Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie
Next to the refectory is the main church, Santa Maria delle Grazie (Chiesa di 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 (1401-1466). The architect was Guiniforte Solari (c. 1429-c. 1481). Ludovico Sforza later decided to turn the church into the Sforza family mausoleum.
The church is on a Latin cross plan and consists of a central nave with two aisles. The transept is topped by a dome. There are seven chapels on each aisle.
The Crowning with Thorns, painted by Titian (c. 1477-1576) in 1542/43, was installed in the Chapel of the Holy Crown (Cappella di Santa Corona), located in the fourth span on the right side of the nave. It was looted by French troops in 1797 and now hangs in the Louvre. Gaudenzio Ferrari (c. 1471-1546) completed the frescoes of the Stories of the Passion in the chapel.
The Chapel of St. Martin de Porres (Cappella di San Martino de Porres), second on the right, contains an altarpiece of St. Martin in ecstasy, painted by Silvio Consadori (1909-1994) in 1962. A reproduction of the 16th century fresco of St. Martin on horseback while giving the mantle to the poor, damaged in 1959/60, now sits in the New Sacristry.
