THE SCENE DEPICTS CHRIST AND HIS 12 APOSTLES
FACTS ABOUT LEONARDO DA VINCI'S 'THE LAST SUPPER'
LEONARDO, AS HE IS COMMONLY CALLED, PAINTED "THE LAST SUPPER" ABOUT 1495 ON THE WALL OF THE DINING HALL IN THE MONASTERY OF SANTA MARIA DELLE GRAZIE IN MILAN, ITALY.
THE SCENE DEPICTS CHRIST AND HIS 12 APOSTLES IN THE TENSE MOMENT JUST AFTER HE ANNOUNCED THAT ONE OF THEM WOULD BETRAY HIM. BY ARRANGING THE 13 FIGURES IN SEVERAL SMALL GROUPS INSTEAD OF A LINE, AS IN EARLIER DEPICTIONS OF THE EVENT, LEONARDO ACHIEVED A MORE ACTIVE DESIGN. THE APOSTLES APPEAR AGITATED AND RESPOND IN VARIOUS WAYS TO CHRIST'S ANNOUNCEMENT.
IN PAINTING "THE LAST SUPPER," LEONARDO REJECTED THE FRESCO TECHNIQUE NORMALLY USED FOR WALL PAINTINGS AT THE TIME. INSTEAD, HE DEVELOPED A NEW TECHNIQUE THAT INVOLVED COATING THE WALL WITH A COMPOUND HE HAD CREATED. THAT ALLOWED HIM TO PAINT SLOWLY, REVISE HIS WORK AND USE SHADOWS.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE COMPOUND DID NOT HOLD THE PAINT IN PLACE AND PROTECT IT FROM MOISTURE AS IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO. BY THE 16TH CENTURY, THE PAINT BEGAN TO FLAKE AWAY. ATTEMPTS AT RESTORATION ONLY AGGRAVATED THE CONDITION. NOT UNTIL MODERN RESTORATION TECHNIQUES WERE APPLIED AFTER WORLD WAR II WAS THE PROCESS OF DECAY HALTED.
SOURCE: WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA, ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
