PHOTOS OF LEONARDO'S LAST SUPPER

Old photo

        This is an early image of Leonardo's mural, showing the missing right wall with the long painted frieze.  A matching frieze is on the left wall. They extend into the painting, and become part of the 3-D effect that makes the room appear to recess. 

Note : the door has already been cut in the bottom center, and the windows are still above the painted frieze. You can also also see the original curve of the ceiling. (click on images to enlarge)

Current photo

       Compare it with a current image. Notice that the curve of the ceiling is a different arch.  In 1943 the refectory of the Maria delle Grazie was hit by allied bombs.  It blew off the roof and the right wall.  Although the structure was rebuilt, the top portion of the mural above the lunettes and the frieze is gone forever. The windows, now bricked up, are cut through the middle of the painted frieze on the left wall.

    Still present is the red underpainting behind the lunettes.
The garlands surrounding the sheilds can be seen, although the paint has flaked off and they are badly deteriorated.

    The three tapestries on each side of the walls are balck and no design is present.

    Images of the feet are barely visible under the table.

    Images of the food are vaguely discernable.





Below is a photo of the bombed structure. The back wall containing the mural was sand bagged and remained intact, except for the portion above the lunettes.                                                                                                                                                                                             

Bombed 1943- mural sand bagged

    You can easily make out the painted freize on the left wall.

    The rubble of the destroyed roof can be seen in the floor of the refectory.

     The double stacked sand bags were secured by a system of support pipes.   Layers of thick wood was placed at entervals between the stacks of sand bags so they would have a place to secure the pipes.

    Notice that a temporary, protective roof has been built above the mural to protect it from falling rubble.

    It is admirable to see what great lengths the stewards of the mural went to protect Leonrdo's masterpiece.

                       

Before latest restoration

After last restoration

Last Supper by Sharron Connelly (table)

THE LAST SUPPER by SHARRON

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Try out my favorite link. 

                                                                                                                

                           This one gives a virtual tour of the Maria delle Grazie, so you can see the LAST SUPPER from home.  It also includes other interesting sites around Milan.  

Sit down!  Enjoy!!!!                     http://www.milan.arounder.com/

 

Last Supper by Sharron Connelly

                           THE LAST SUPPER by SHARRON CONNELLY
      
         After two long years,  finally I put the finishing touches on my 8 by 8 foot (framed) renaissance style oil painting, a  re-creation of Leonardo da Vinci’s LAST SUPPER.  Utilizing hundreds of bits and pieces of photographs of Leonardo's masterpiece and information gleaned from my hundreds of thousands of hours of research, I carefully reconstructed the mural. Eventually, I brought to life the artist's brillianat colors and exquisite details.  My version of what Leonardo's Last Supper originally looked like was displayed at the prestigious Milan Gallery, 505 Houston St., Fort Worth, Texas at 2 P.M. on Sunday, November 29th., 2009.  There were refreshments and a lecture about things hidden in the painting. I also revealed Leonardo da Vinci’s SECRET SIGNATURE!!

Table image

          Prints of THE LAST SUPPER by Sharron Connelly are available at 237willow@prodigy.net  or

by contacting Sharron Connelly, 6126 Park Rd., Fort Worth, Tx, 76135  or by calling 817-2389222 or (cell) 817-2354335.   They may be paid for by check, money order jor cashiers check.

          These exquisite laser prints were photographed by the famed art photographer, Brad Flowers, who is the photographer for the Dallas Art Museum and does work for other prestigious art museums across the country including the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York.

          They are framable giclees, printed on canvas. The most popular sizes are the (full view) priced at  $295.00 and the (table view) priced at $150.  Shipping: $10.00.

          They are especially valuable  fundraisers for:
                            
                                                  . Christian charity work
                                                  .  building funds
                                                  . missionary work
                                                  . camp fundraisers.
        
          One or more church members, usually pay for a print and donate it to a particular fundraising project.  Tickets are sold 6 for $5.00, with between $1,500 and $2,000 made for the project. 

Prints will be delivered sent in secure mailing tubes, immediately upon reciept of payment.

CONTENT AND COMPOSITION

To understand Leonardo da Vinci's LAST SUPPER, it is necessary to understand the times. RENAISSANCE means "rebirth."  For them, it was the revival or "rebirth" of the thinking of the Greeks and Romans, the essence of which was the QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY! They achieved this through their grand architecture, flamboyant literature and colossal art.  In Leonardo's case...it was through his art. Everyone wanted their image to be captured in a painting or sculpture so it would remain after their death...and they would be immortalized!  Artists were considered to be "divine" because they could accomplish this "immortality!"

Leonardo, being the overly egotistical, excessive impulsisve genius that he was, became obsessed with the QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY!  This obsession became the driving force in his art. He imbued his image and his initials into his works to immortalize himself...so he could live forever!

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                                                    THE LAST SUPPER

.  The mural is almost 30 by 30 feet, including the top arch, if it were rounded off.

. It is not a fresco, which was painted into wet plaster, but a mural painted with dry pigment mixed with oil.

.  The design is in Leonardo's one-point perspective, creating a three-dimensional effect in which the room appears to be extended.  This made it appear that the monk's were dining with Christ. 

.  Leonardo elevated it so everyone in the dining room had visual access to the mural.

.  The figures were one and a half life size, larger than life-size, like those of the Greeks and Romans.  If standing, they would be 9' tall.

. The apostles are combined into four groups of three, with Christ in the center

. The scene is captured at the dramatic moment Christ said, " ONE OF YE SHALL BETRAY ME!"

. All of the apostles are focusing on the figure of Christ.

.  A hole was discovered on the right cheek of Christ. Leonardo had driven a nail there and attached a string to draw a gian X to create the one-point-perspective.  These lines created 4 giant V's...Leonardo's V for Vinci.

. Because the one-point perspective ended on the cheek of Christ, it made him the central focus of the composition.

. The complete composition is composed of D's, L's and V's...Leonardo's initials.

. The V shape between St. John and Christ is a V...for Vinci....not the (vigina )of Mary Magdalene as susggested by Dan Brown!
.

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HISTORY OF LEONARDO'S LAST SUPPER




Maria delle Grazie

 

     Leonardo da Vinci painted the LAST SUPPER in the refectory, (or dining room) of the MARIA DELLE GRAZIE, (Holy Mary of Grace) in Milan, Italy.  It was a church and Dominican monastery ordered by Duke Francesco Sforza.

1469 - The building was completed.  The main architect was Guiniforte Solari.

1490 - Completion of the cloister and aspe. It was ordered by Duke Ludovico Sforza, who commanded the building to be the ducal church and family mausoleum.

                                                  Duke Lodovico Sforza
1495- Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint the LAST SUPPER.

1497- Lodovico's young wife, Beatrice de' Este was buried there.

Beatrice de Este

Marble tomb of Lodovico Sforza and Beatrice de Este

                                                                           
1498- Leonardo completed the LAST SUPPER and it was unveiled.

1499- The French invaded Milan.  The Maria delle Grazie was flooded.  

1517 - The damp environment caused the mural to begin to deteriorate.

1556- Georgio Vasari, the great renaissance painter and art historian recorded that it was "ruined."

1652- the monks cut a doorway in the bottom center of the mural to access the adjacent room.  In doing so they removed the feet of the three central figures.

1726- Michelangelo Bellotti filled in missing parts with oil paint and varnished the surface.

1768- the monks hung a curtain over the mural to protect it.  However, it only trapped moisture behind it and caused more damage.  Also, when the monks pulled back the curtain, it scraped off more loose flakes of paint.

1770- Girtseppe Mazza stripped off Bellotti's work and repainted all but three faces before his work was halted due to public outrage.

1776- Napolean's troops used the refectory for a stable and armory.  They also used it for a make-shift prison.  At one point, drunken soldiers threw rocks at the mural and scaled ladders to scratch out the apostle's eyes.

1821- Stefano Barezzi tried to remove the mural from the wall and badly damaged the center section.  When he saw he couldn't remove it he tried to stablize it with glue.

1901- 1908- Luigi Cavenaughi attempted to clean it.

1924- Oreste Silvertri did further cleaning.

1943- The MARIA DELLE GRAZIE was hit by allied bombs blowing off the roof and the right wall of the refectory.  Although the wall containing the mural was sand bagged, the top portion of the mural above the lunettes crumbled. The building was rebuilt after the war and the missing parts of the painting are merely covered with house paint.

1951- 1954- Maurio Pelliccioli cleaned the mural and stablized it.

1978-1999- Dr. Pinin Brambillia Barcilon undertook a major 20 year restoration.  The windows were bricked up and a controlled atmosphere was created.  She removed all paint that was not by Leonardo and painted in blank areas with water color.

      The LAST SUPPER is now a faint image of Leonardo's original.  For that reason, I was compelled to undertake the  project of re-creating it to what I believe it looked like in brilliant color and exquisite detail, before it began to ruin.


     Here is another beautiful view of the Maria delle Grazie (Holy Mother of Grace.)

Sharron Connelly









FACTS ABOUT LEONARDO DA VINCI'S LAST SUPPER

             
          Da Vinci’s original mural measures approximately some 29 feet square, if the ceiling arch was squared off.  It is housed in the dining room (refectory) of the MARIA DELLE GRAZIE, a Dominican monastery in Milan, Italy.  To insure a smoothe surface for his painting, Leonardo covered the rough, brick wall with a type of clay made of sand and calcium carbonate.  Then, he added additional layers of calcium carbonate, a type of gesso, covering it with a coat of white lead paint.



Schematic drawing of the Last Supper identifying the apostles

           Leonardo captured images of the apostles: Bartholomew, James the minor, and Andrew---Judas, Peter and John (Christ) Thomas, James THE Minor and Philippe---Matthew, Thaddeus and Simon, at the dramatic moment that Christ said, ”One of you shall betray me!”

         Leonardo  executed the LAST SUPPER with oil infused dry pigment, to insure a slower drying time for better modeling. The dampness in the building soon caused a clay base to pull away from the wall.  The calcium carbonate disintegrated, causing the paint to peel and crack, because it was not infused into the plaster like a regular fresco.  The LAST SUPPER’S recent 20 year restoration was by  Dr.Pinin Brambilla Barcilon, who removed the paint of earlier restorers.  She reattached the remaining shreds of Leonardo’s paint to the wall and filled in blank areas of the painting with water color.  However, the mural  remains a faint glimmer of his original.

          I have  been researching Da Vinci since 1983, and I have re-created the LAST SUPPER by scrutinizing hundreds of photos and pieces of copies of the original with a 10-power jeweler’s loop. From the mountain of information gleaned from her studies, she put her painting together like a giant jig-saw puzzle. Her painting reflects the image of Leonardo’s original mural in its former glory.
        


  

SHARRON CONNELLY

          I am  an independent Vincian scholar, who has been researching Leonardo da Vinci since 1983. I am a graduate of  the University of Texas and taught art in the Texas public schools for 33 years. I am also an accomplished sculptress and exhibited with the Southwest Art Circuit for 25 years.

          I have walked the footsteps of Leonardo five times across Europe and  made many interesting discoveries.  Having studied Leonardo's pictographs (Egyptian-type hieroglyphic writings) with a 10-power jeweler's loop, and after many hundreds of thousands of hours of inimitable study, I broke the code on Leonardo's pictographs and have solved the mystery of MONA LISA! These findings are compiled in my books, THE CHARADE OF MONA LISA VOL. I & II.

          Besides my painting of the LAST SUPPER, I have written  a screen play, which, following the story line of  my book, and  reveals the bizarre secret of MONA LISA!  I have also discovered several da Vinci masterpieces in Europe and the U. S, which art historians have incorrectly attributed to lesser artists!

          My life's quest, as a dedicated Leonardo detective...who has discovered the marvelous secrets of the dark side of Leonardo...is to untie the mystic mask and reveal the secrets of Leonardo da Vinci to all of civilization...so his soul may rest in peace...and to gain rightful attribution to Leonardo for his exquisite (lost) works!