1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey, 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,480 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here located on the wall of 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: Milan's Convent of Santa Maria de la Gracia, is a 4 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: work of art that's considered by many to be one 5 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: of the greatest artistic masterpieces of all time. Leonardo da 6 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: Vinci is the Last Supper, but da Vinci wasn't exactly 7 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: stoked about it when the Duke of Milan commissioned the 8 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: piece in fourteen ninety four. We spoke with art historian 9 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: Ross King, the author of several books on Italian, French 10 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: and Canadian art history. He said Leonardo did not want 11 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: to paint the Last Supper. Instead, he wanted to do 12 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: a gigantic bronze equestrian moment, a monumental work that would 13 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: certainly have made him famous. But the outbreak of war 14 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: in fourteen four meant he couldn't do his bronze horse, 15 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: so as compensation, he was given the task of painting 16 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: a wall in a room where a band of Friars 17 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: ate their dinner every day. He had never painted on 18 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: such a large scale, having little experience in such a 19 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: difficult task, it's not surprising that he complained bitterly about 20 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: the commission, at which it was entirely possible that he 21 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: would fail miserably. Happily, the story turned out otherwise. What 22 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: resulted from da Vinci's hesitant participation is a mural that 23 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:17,960 Speaker 1: famously depicts the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with his 24 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: apostles on the day before his crucifixion. The scene is 25 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,320 Speaker 1: based on the description in the Gospel of John twenty one, 26 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: and da Vinci intended to convey the reactions of jesus 27 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: disciples the moment that they learned that one of them 28 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 1: would betray him. King, says da Vinci's The Last Supper 29 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: is particularly important for a variety of reasons, perhaps most 30 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: of all for its elevation of the artist to celebrity status. 31 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: He said. It's completion marks the moment when Leonardo, then 32 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: in his mid forties, finally created what he called a 33 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: work of fame. It's amazing to think that before The 34 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: Last Supper Leonardo had achieved very little. Petty died in say, 35 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: four two, when he was forty. He would have been 36 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: little more than a footnote in art history, known as 37 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: someone who showed enormous promise but never delivered the goods, 38 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: but with the Last Supper he delivered spectacularly. Without having 39 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,519 Speaker 1: created the Last Supper, he probably would never have received 40 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: his later commissions, including the Mona Lisa, So the work 41 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: was absolutely crucial, not only to the history of art, 42 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: but also to his own career. One special feature of 43 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: The Last Supper is its sheer size, approximately fifteen by 44 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: twenty nine feet that's four and a half meters by 45 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: about eight point eight meters. King said no one else 46 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: in history had ever created such a large painting was 47 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: such a great level of realistic detail, as well as 48 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: with such believable emotions and dramatic expressions. No one who 49 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: painted a Last Supper in the centuries afterward could do 50 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:49,519 Speaker 1: so without an eye on Leonardo's masterpiece. Da Vinci opted 51 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: to portray one pivotal moment in the scene, instant just 52 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: before the creation of the Eucharist or Holy Communion, when, 53 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: according to the Bible Versus Corinthians eleven to twenty X, 54 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,080 Speaker 1: Jesus reaches for the bread and wine and tells the 55 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 1: apostles that they represent his body and blood to be 56 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: consumed in remembrance of him. Da Vinci's notebooks are a 57 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: key to who the key players are in the painting, 58 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: although experts still argue over some of the details. In 59 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 1: one group, Bartholomew, James and Andrew sit together and look 60 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: genuinely shocked at what Jesus has just revealed. In another group, 61 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: there's Judas, Peter and John. Judas, the known betrayer, has 62 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: a lot going on. He's fading into the background a bit. 63 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: He's holding a bag of money, and he's knocking over 64 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: a salt shaker, which experts say is meant to symbolize 65 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: the expression tipping over the salt, which means betraying one's master. 66 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: Jesus sits in the middle of the group, and on 67 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: his other side are Apostle, Thomas, James the Greater and Philip, 68 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: then Matthew, Jude and Simon. The symmetry of the figures 69 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: and i pleasing use of perspective are signature da Vinci, 70 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: but there are tons of details that art scholars continue 71 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: to debate and dissect. Take the fish on the table, 72 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: for example, is it airing or eel? In Italian, the 73 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: word eel is a ringa, which might be a sort 74 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: of pun on the word ringa with two rs, meaning indoctrination. However, 75 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: the word herring in Northern Italian is ringa, also meaning 76 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: one who denies religion. But the content and composition of 77 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,040 Speaker 1: the Last Supper aren't the only reasons why the painting 78 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: remains legendary. King explained it has a very sad history. 79 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 1: The paint began flaking from the wall because of a 80 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,840 Speaker 1: perfect storm of bad climatic conditions in the refectory, mainly 81 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: cold and damp. That might not have been such a 82 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: problem had Leonardo worked in the true fresco technique, which 83 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: makes for very durable paintings, but he devised a method 84 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,919 Speaker 1: of his own that involved painting in oil and tempera 85 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,359 Speaker 1: on a dry wall, something artists were discouraged from doing. 86 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:53,919 Speaker 1: His technique, unsurprisingly, did not prove successful. Due to Da 87 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: Vinci's ill advised choices and the poor custodianship in the 88 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: centuries that followed the creation of the painting, the Last 89 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: sup first started to look rough, and then things got worse. 90 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: King said the work was insensitively restored by conservators who 91 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: didn't know what they were doing and caused more harm 92 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: than good. In sixteen fifty two, in a kind of 93 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: act of vandalism, the friars from the convent knocked a 94 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: hole in the wall, amputating Christ's feet to create a 95 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: doorway through the painting. The refectory flooded in the nineteenth 96 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: century and Napoleon used the building as a stable, which 97 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: meant it was filled with horses and manure. Then, during 98 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: World War Two it barely survived a bomb that destroyed 99 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: much of the refectory. The fact that we still have 100 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: it to enjoy is little short of miraculous. Today's episode 101 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 1: was written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by Tyler Klang. 102 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other topics, visit 103 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: has Stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of 104 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, 105 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 106 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:57,600 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.