The Church and Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie - The Last Supper
Piazza S. Maria delle Grazie 2 Corso Magenta 20123 Milan
Reservation required tel +39 02 89421146

The Church and Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the home of Leonardo's Last Supper, has been listed as part of UNESCO's Worldwide Heritage since 1980 and is an exceptional masterpiece of human creativity and genius. The Church and Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie were built between 1465 and 1482 to designs by Guiniforte Solari.

The church's original architectonic layout, now only visible in the form of the nave and aisles, was a typical example of Late Gothic Lombard art of which Solari was a well-known exponent. The nave and two-aisle interior with side chapels was in line with the traditional composition although there are several innovative elements of clear Renaissance taste such as the columns that replace pilasters and the pictorial decoration of the nave itself.

Although The Last Supper was a traditional theme used to decorate convent refectories, Leonardo presented the subject in a completely innovative form. Not only did he make drastic modifications to the layout of the scene, but also the true novelty was the astounding realism with which he recounted this episode from the Gospels.