The Last Supper
- gldobbs
- 3 minutes ago
- 5 min read
March 10, 2026
“While painting The Last Supper, Leonardo would sometimes stare at the work for an hour, finally make one small stroke, and then leave. He told Duke Ludovico that creativity requires time for ideas to marinate and intuitions to gel. “Men of lofty genius sometimes accomplish the most when they work least,” he explained, “for their minds are occupied with their ideas and the perfection of their conceptions, to which they afterwards give form.” Most of us don’t need advice to procrastinate; we do it naturally. But procrastinating like Leonardo requires work: it involves gathering all the possible facts and ideas, and only after that allowing the collection to simmer.”
― Walter Isaacson, Leonardo Da Vinci
By the Spring of 1493 a 43 year old Leonardo DaVinci had been living in Milan Italy around 13 years. He came to the city to offer his services to the head of the Sforzas family, the reigning Duke of Milan, not as a painter but as a designer of military weapons and techniques. It soon became evident that the charismatic, intensely handsome, and flamboyantly dressed DaVinci offered far more services than military engineering design. He was a polymath, intensely curious about everything, a gifted artist, and a procrastinator of the first order. (He would complete fewer than 20 paintings by the time of his death by a stroke at sixty seven)
So it was that Spring when the Sforza family commissioned him to paint a mural for the dining hall of the Dominican Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. The writ was simple enough. Give the monks something to look at as they ate in silence and would would bring honor to the Sforza family, the church’s patron.
However, what DaVinci did was anything but simple and painstakingly slow. This would cause a problem. The normal procedure in that era was to paint on wet plaster with quick strokes so the colors would hold and not flake off. DaVinci used a secco (dry) method, mixing tempera and oil paints on a sealed, dry plaster wall. This differed from traditional fresco, which required fast, wet-on-wet application. The experimental technique was immediately problematic, as the paint did not adhere well to the wall and began to deteriorate within a few years of completion. He took 3 years to complete the work.
As such, the painting faded dramatically, so much so that the work we see today is the result of dozens of restoration efforts, the most recent was in 1999.
The second departure from the norms of the day is he painted as if this was a snapshot in time from the dinner. Here we see the dramatic moment when Jesus declared, “One of you will betray me.” All of the disciples react in astonishment to this declaration each with individual personalities and expressions. The moment is alive with tension.
Here are some key details to notice -
Notice Jesus at the center. Jesus forms a calm, stable equilateral triangle in the middle of chaos, symbolizing the divine.
The reaction of the Apostles to Jesus’ declaration. The twelve disciples are organized into four groups of three, reacting with distinct emotions (shock, anger, denial) to Jesus's statement that one will betray him.
Then there is Judas. Unlike the other depictions, Judas is at the table but his face is in shadow, clutching a bag of silver, and reaching for the same dish as Jesus.
Look for the spilled salt container near Judas (an omen of bad luck), Peter holding a knife (foreshadowing his defense of Jesus), and Thomas with his finger raised (referencing his future doubt).
It is easily the most famous painting of Jesus ever created.
DaVinci was a master at so many things. Perhaps none more than his brilliant understanding of perspective. No matter where you stand before the work, your eyes are drawn towards the central figure of Christ. All architectural lines in the room converge on Jesus's right temple, making him the absolute focus. There is a single window in the room in real life and he used the light from that viewpoint in the painting for shading and contrast of the figures.
In this painting, by displaying real emotions and a dramatic scene, DaVinci revolutionized Renaissance art through brilliant use of perspective and giving us an image that seems like we were there, at one of the most dramatic moments in history.
The painting came close to being destroyed several times. Not only did it deteriorate over the years requiring frequent restoration work, but time and subsequent regimes showed little care for the masterpiece. Napoleon, when he invaded, used the room where the painting was kept as a stable for horses. At one point, it was decided they needed a door on the wall and simply cut out Jesus’ feet. And in World War 2, Milan was bombed many times and the work was nearly lost forever.
In 1516, Leonardo accepted an invitation from Francois I of France and moved to the Loire Valley. The king admired him deeply and gave him the title “Premier Painter, Engineer and Architect to the King.”
We spent some time in this area in a previous episode - Click here
By this time Leonardo was about 64–67 years old and in declining health. Historical accounts suggest he suffered partial paralysis of his right hand, likely from a stroke around 1517. Because of this, he painted very little during his last years, though he continued drawing, designing, studying science, and organizing his notebooks.
Francois I of France admired Leonardo greatly and reportedly visited him often. Leonardo became more of a philosopher and intellectual presence at court than an active painter.
A famous story—popularized by the painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres in the painting The Death of Leonardo da Vinci—shows Leonardo dying in the arms of the king. Historians today think this scene is symbolic rather than literal, but it reflects the king’s deep respect for him.
Leonardo died on May 2, 1519, at Clos Lucé in Amboise, France at age 67.
According to witnesses present his final words were, "I have offended God and Mankind, by doing so little with my life."
I think you can rest easy Leonardo. You did far more than most.
Comments