Santa Maria delle Grazie (The Last Supper)

The Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie was originally commissioned by Francesco I Sforza, Duke of Milan, in the mid-15th century as a Dominican convent and church. However, it was his successor, Ludovico il Moro, who transformed the site into a grand family mausoleum. He enlisted the legendary architect Donato Bramante to redesign the apse, resulting in the magnificent Renaissance structure we see today, which beautifully blends late Gothic and early Renaissance architectural styles. Within the refectory of this convent, Leonardo da Vinci painted his magnum opus, 'The Last Supper,' between 1495 and 1498. Unlike traditional frescoes painted on wet plaster, Leonardo experimented with an oil and tempera mix on a dry wall to achieve greater detail and luminosity. Unfortunately, this experimental technique proved fragile, and the painting began to deteriorate almost immediately after completion, leading to centuries of restoration efforts to save the fading image. The site’s survival into the modern era is nothing short of miraculous, particularly after the Allied bombings of 1943 during World War II. The air raid destroyed the refectory’s roof and several surrounding walls, but the wall holding the masterpiece remained standing, protected by a wall of sandbags. Following a painstaking 21-year restoration project that concluded in 1999, the painting is now preserved in a strictly climate-controlled environment, allowing visitors to glimpse the genius of the High Renaissance.