Santa Maria delle Grazie - Milan, Italy

In 1482 Leonardo da Vinci traveled from Florence to Milan, where he came under the patronage of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza.  Shortly after the Duke's rise to power, da Vinci was commissioned to create an equestrian statue that would honor Sforza's late father.  The new leader also working to reestablish the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, hiring Donato Bramante to "update" the church, while da Vinci would paint a depiction of The Last Supper on the wall of the refectory (Grieve).

Source: Grieve, Amanda. (2018). "The Scientific Narrative of Leonardo's Last Supper." Best Integrated Writing, vol. 5.

Parent Map

da Vinci and the Renaissance 2020 Map

Coordinates

Latitude: 45.465963000000
Longitude: 9.170962100000

Timeline of Events Associated with Santa Maria delle Grazie - Milan, Italy

Date Event Manage

Da Vinci's Use of One Point Perspective

1495 to 1498

Da Vinci's Take on The Last Supper

Leonardo Da Vinci was commissioned in 1494 to depict The Last Supper, or Il Cenacolo, in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Grieve).  His painting shows the scene of the popular Bible story, where Jesus Christ and his disciples gathered for a final meal the night before Christ's crucifixion.  Da Vinci follows the Medieval trope of presenting the Disciples' reaction to the claim that one of them will choose to betray Jesus, but the painter uses techniques that stray from commonplace.  Renaissance artists painted using watercolor-like pigments on wet canvas, but Da Vinci prepared his tempera paint on the dry, plastered wall of the monastery using two layers of gesso (Taddei).  In The Last Supper, the artist places all of the guests on one side of the table, differing from the popular Giotto di Bondone portrayal, and this is significant because as Jesus opens his arms, the depth perception of the audience feels almost an invitation by Jesus to join him (Grieve).  Da Vinci places a strong emphasis on the gestures and position of the Apostles, aiming to portray the emotional and physical shock experienced, and he also uses detailed linear perspective to coordinate the central light and the placement of Jesus at the center (Hadi).  The work was finally finished in 1498, with Luca Pacioli, a mathematician who worked with Da Vinci, revealing the work as complete in De Divina Proportione (Grieve).

Sources:

Grieve, Amanda. (2018). "The Scientific Narrative of Leonardo's Last Supper." Best Integrated Writing, vol. 5.

Hadi, Seyyed Mohammed. “Investigation of Da Vinci's The Last Supper Inspiration Origin on Canonical Gospels.” Bagh-e Nazar, vol. 14, no. 46, Apr. 2017, pp. 27–35.

Reinhartz, Adele. “Oxford University Press.” Oxford University Biblical Studies Press, global.oup.com/obso/focus/focus_on_lastsupper1/#bibliography. 
Taddei, Mario. “Digital Restoration of the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci and Multimedia Tools to Experience Edutainment.” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, no. 364, 2018, pp. 1–2
Image Source:  “Leonardo Da Vinci: The Last Supper (1).” Art and The Bible, www.artbible.info/art/large/150.html.