Failed Renaissance Relic Restored: The Last Supper’s Untold Saga
In Milan’s unassuming Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery, millions flock to glimpse Leonardo da Vinci’s spellbinding mural The Last Supper. In this mural Jesus’ final gathering is alive with drama moments before betrayal. Though now an iconic masterpiece of the High Renaissance, it may shock tourists to learn the painting once decayed, frail and vandalized for centuries. Its innovations were lost on contemporaries. Only modern restoration redeemed this faded Florentine artifact from obscurity back into revelation.
Da Vinci accepted his first and only major fresco commission to decorate the refectory wall from the Duke of Milan in 1495. This task pushed his skills to their brink. For this fresco Da Vinci worked at towering scale unfamiliar to him. The chronically distracted polymath improvised mural techniques disastrously by mixing oil and tempera paints. Consequently, his makeshift method immediately began deteriorating upon finishing in 1498 when other frescoes endured intact for ages.
Unimpressed Clergy Foster Decay
Sadly, even the sublime emotive power and novel perspective he pioneered failed to impress clergy or visitors. This was because it was too different compared to conventional biblical imagery of the late 15th century. Within decades yellowed varnish dulled impressions and flaking destroyed apostles’ once soulful expressions. Art critics visiting Santa Maria delle Grazie described the sinking mural as “blurred and colorless” by mid-century. It was later described “in a total state of ruin” by the 1550s.
Such disregard for da Vinci’s crumbling pictorial tribute to Christ allowed friars still eating underneath to chop away the bottom third when adding a doorway in 1652. With those callous strokes, Christ’s feet vanished along with precision detailing spilled salt and coins underlying drama in the upper scene. For almost 300 years after, The Last Supper decayed largely forgotten except as a mere curiosity tucked away into obscurity.
Redeeming a Ruined Renaissance Relic
Thankfully 20th century restoration of the Last Supper finally brought the neglected masterwork back to life just before potential collapse. In 2005, European arts foundation TASCHEN published sweeping reproductions returning intriguing visual context severed centuries before. Their digitally “repainted” images reconnected lost feet and objects displaying da Vinci’s meticulous orchestration better than ever.
Now millions marvel what early scorners neglected through Renaissance-era fashions or religious conventions. Those flawed initial critiques blinding audiences to The Last Supper’s quiet genius seem absurd in retrospect today. But prejudice persisting centuries still threatens beloved artwork worldwide through war, censorship or willful ignorance.
How many more masterpieces now molder ruined awaiting rediscovery behind barriers of bigotry or intolerance? As da Vinci’s The Last Supper reminds, revelation dawns gradually through patient restoration healing societal rifts or revisions challenging stubborn bias over time. The ultimate service to creative expression means celebrating renewal that allows long-obscured brilliance finally gleaming anew.
