Final Stop - Milan - Last Supper

The main purpose of our trip to Milan was to see the painting by Leonardo da Vinci of The Last Supper. First we visited the church next door to the monastery. It is Chiesa Di Santa Maria Delle Grazie (Holy Mother of Grace). We were there on January 6 which is the Day of Epiphany or called Three Kings' Day. A church service was just ending. It was a less ornate church than many others I have seen in Italy.

Leonardo began work on The Last Supper in 1495 and completed it in 1498. The Last Supper 180 in × 350 in and covers an end wall of what was the dining hall at the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Holy Mother of Grace). The painting has had lots of restoration and some of it has been highly criticized by art historians. They think very little of the original painting is still intact.  Leonardo painted The Last Supper on a dry wall and the paint did not adhere well. Very shortly the humidity caused the painting to deteriorate.  During World War II, on August 15, 1943, the monastery was struck by Allied bombing. Sandbagging prevented the painting from being struck by bomb splinters. There was a 21 year restoration from 1978 to 1999. The Last Supper specifically portrays the reaction given by each apostle when Jesus said one of them would betray him.