Milan

Doreen and I visited Milan with the hopes of seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. Reservations are required and depending on the season, are not available even weeks in advance. As an aside, a couple of good resources to book are tickitaly.com and selectitaly.com. Both were helpful but selectitaly.com probably won’t respond as quickly (up to 3 business days). We departed without a reservation because we made the request only the day prior. However, we knew there would be other things to see in Milan - notably the Pinacoteca di Brera.

The BRERA:

The great thing about the Brera is the line to enter was almost non-existent, the staff is helpful and you can use a locker for free. Since we knew the Brera didn’t require a reservation (and our attempted Last Supper reservation was for 16:00) we went there first. The museum has an impressive collection of works and an equally impressive array of artists. Artists whose work caused me to take note included:

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• BELLINI, Giovanni - with a rather striking Pieta.
• CARAVAGGIO - I have always been a fan of Caravaggio and the Brera had the Supper at Emmaus (above 1). His amazing use of contrast makes even blasé scenes incredible to me.
• CRESPI, Daniele - this version of the Last Supper (above 2) has a great depiction of Judas’s face and if you look closely, he’s even holding the coin purse full of the blood money.
• HAYEZ, Francesco - of course this image is included - The Kiss (above 3) has become an icon.
• LOTTO, Lorenzo
• MANTEGNA, Andrea - his Lamentation over the Dead Christ (above 4) is not only an amazing painting; it is well ahead of its time in regards to perspective and the use of foreshortening.
• MORANDI, Giorgio - this artist had a large section of Room X in the Brera and although his still lives did little for me, some of his landscapes captured my attention.
• MORAZZONE - His painting of Saint Francis (below 1) grabbed my attention immediately and I loved it.
• RAFFAELLO Sanzio (Raphael) - notable simply because it’s Raphael and the Engagement of the Virgin Mary (below 2) is as famous as he is.
• REDON, Odilon - I can’t find it on the Web, but there was one piece, a great charcoal drawing, Face in a Crescent Moon
• RUBENS, Pieter Pauwel - a fantastic version of the Last Supper (below 3) and there is a sketch of the painting in Moscow (below 3b) which I was unaware of until further research on the Web. Judas is again looking at the viewer and away from Christ and in this version, he is accompanied by a not-so-friendly dog at his feet.
• TINTORETTO - an unusual subject, The Discovery of St Mark’s Body was an awesome painting to me.
• VECELLIO, Tiziano (Titian) - I really enjoyed his version of Saint Jerome (below 4)

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Brera Tickets

Cenacolo Vinciano (the Last Supper):

Our Story. Of course Doreen and I intended to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, but who wouldn’t.

As mentioned above, reservations are required, but that’s the interesting part of our story. We planned late (the day before) to go to Milan and therefore left without a reserved time slot. However, we had a confirmation number from a website stating we had ordered a reservation - but not an actual reservation. We had to leave the next day so on a whim we took the confirmation number.

We arrived at the convent about 15 minutes after our attempted 16:00 reservation. I gave the confirmation number to Doreen and being as nice as she could, Doreen told the cashier we were late. The women asked for our reservation number (that’s all they care about) and Doreen showed her the confirmation number.

It was the moment of truth…but before we knew it we were paying for tickets. The women gave us tickets faster than she could have ever comprehended that number - let alone enter it into a computer. We didn’t even have to wait for the next time slot - we walked right in! It was great. Milan’s not that close and who knew when we’d both be there again. Maybe God really wanted us to see that painting.

For the painting itself - I think it’s been lauded enough. What can I add?

It’s not a fresco - which is a common assumption. It’s done with mixed techniques including tempera which da Vinci wasn’t that versed in because he was still experimenting with it - he’d just invented it. For that reason it’s in marginal condition but at the same time remarkable that it’s lasted as long as it has. I can’t imagine it before the restoration. It’s a good thing it was done or who knows what it would look like. However, speaking of the restoration, I think it looked really good shortly after but to be honest, it doesn’t seem to be holding out so well, albeit that was about seven years ago and a several-year process.

Here is a picture of the restored Supper, but it doesn’t really look like that now. Sadly, Simon (far right) barely has a distinguishable face. Here’s a good article about fresco vice tempera in regards to the Last Supper from Lisa Shea.

That being said, it was still great to see it and the painting is awesome - if for nothing else that it’s a four-year Leonardo da Vinci project with which he infuriated the church with his lengthy timeline even experimented with his tempera. Some people can basically do what they want. Here is another picture of it at the Web Gallery of Art - a great site by the way.

the ticket to the show