Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, part 1: Let’s Rethink This Piece. Pretty Please.

In this essay, we’re going to discuss Leonardo’s Last Supper. This is an image that is very much part of contemporary popular culture and thus our visual culture and collective consciousness. But there is a finite line between knowing and truly understanding an object. They are not interchangeable concepts! Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code in this respect. Every paper I’ve graded on this painting—probably a hundred of them—make surface analyses based on the Dan Brown effect: that it signifies Christ’s last supper before His crucifixion; that it is an important work of Leonardo’s and is a mural; that it is mysterious and enigmatic. This is not analysis! This is a summation of the basic facts and it is also a dip into ahistorical nonsense, perpetuating false narratives. People love conspiracy theories—they’re fun and they make people feel like they’re in the know. If one looks at this painting by itself without any historical context, it’s easy to be convinced of those conspiracy theories. But this painting suddenly becomes much less enigmatic when looking at it from the proper context of medieval-Renaissance piety, religiosity, monastic architecture, and cultural practices. Let’s begin. 

This painting is located on the wall of the refectory of the Dominican friary Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. It was painted by Leonardo in the final years of the 15^th century (circa 1495-8) under the patronage of Ludovico Sforza, the duke of Milan (basically the powerful city state’s leader). First things first: art in this period, and really until the Impressionists with some exceptions, relied on patronage. One didn’t produce art in the hopes of selling it to a gallery. One sought powerful patrons who would sponsor them and refer them to other powerful benefactors. Leonardo won the patronage of the powerful duke of Milan and then Francis I of France, for example. Artists were thus by and large at the mercy of their patron with any commission. This idea of “self-expression” really shouldn’t be the primary consideration in a Renaissance context. Leonardo’s medium has also sparked interest in that it is a mural, not a fresco. 

The answer to that issue is simple: Leonardo hated the medium and it’s easy to understand why. He was notorious for abandoning projects. Some notable examples include St Jerome in the Wilderness (1480-90), Adoration of the Magi (1481), The Battle of Anghiari (1505), and La Scapigliata (ca. 1506-8). Even Mona Lisa is technically an unfinished painting: he never stopped trying to correct mistakes. He would get very invested in a project to the point of obsession before getting distracted with other things. His notebooks are prime proof of this genius, albeit flighty, mind of his. He loved the medium of oil painting—which came from Northern Europe and was popularized in his lifetime—because he could take his time since it’s slow drying. He also could achieve vivid and precise details and paint over anything he didn’t like. Not only does this mean “mistakes” were forgiven with this medium, it also means he had a high degree of flexibility that suited his temperament. Frescoes (or buon fresco) are the opposite. A buon fresco is basically made by combining pigment with wet plaster and applying it to the wall; once dried, the image literally becomes part of the wall. 

This medium was popular across regions with arid climates due to its permanence (plaster doesn’t last as long in humid climates). However, it is not a forgiving medium because of how fast plaster dries. One cannot paint over mistakes or erase anything one doesn’t like as one can with oil painting because it’s glaringly obvious with a fresco. As such, one had to have not just a thorough knowledge of the design before execution but a breakdown of what would be done each day (a day’s work with a fresco is referred to as a giornata). One would apply fresh plaster, create an outline of the intended project, and then delineate each giornata before beginning. We can see these with Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel and in parts of Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel. Leonardo tried to create an alternative solution for the Last Supper. His solution was basically an oil painting mural and, unfortunately, it was a failure. It began to flake almost immediately and Leonardo would have to return to make repairs. So that explains that.