Leonardo's The Last Supper

What happened

On the refectory wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) painted The Last Supper, capturing the moment Christ announces his betrayal and the varied emotional reactions of the twelve apostles. Rather than true fresco, Leonardo used an experimental mix of oil and tempera on dry plaster, and the paint began to flake within a decade.

Why it matters

A masterpiece of composition and psychological drama, it became one of the most studied and imitated images in Western art — and a lesson in Leonardo's restless, sometimes ruinous, experimentation.

Sources

• World History Encyclopedia. Leonardo da Vinci · Reputable source