Despite the damage caused to the colour of the painting, the visit to the “Cenacolo Vinciano” always leaves all the spectators astonished. There is no need to have a guide to be taken by the emotions that Leonardo da Vinci wanted to pass on to his contemporaries and future generations: the painting or the shadow that remains of its colours remain full of a brilliant charm.
When I accompany visitors to admire “Il Cenacolo” I first invite them to take a deep breath. The air in the refectory is not so different from that in those same places in the Renaissance because, thanks to a sophisticated system of filters, the environment is constantly monitored to protect the health of the wall painting. I would like to underline the term “wall painting” in order to point out that it is not an Affresco as many art historians, including art historians, often misunderstood. Leonardo da Vinci, who was notoriously not a reliable painter, decided to abandon the idea of making Affresco precisely because this technique would not allow him to have second thoughts and above all would lead him to a rapid realization of the work.
An Affresco can be found on the opposite wall, the Crucifixion of Christ by Donato Montorfano, a contemporary painter to Leonardo. This painting, which many people ignored during their visit to the refectory, is very important for understanding both the greatness and the negligence of the Tuscan genius. The Affresco by Montorfano, although much better in colour and consistency of plaster, shows the considerable gap in artistic and narrative skills that existed between Leonardo and his contemporaries. While the tendency of the time was to amaze the faithful, focusing on the number of characters and elements used to fill the pictorial surface, Leonardo da Vinci, completely in contrast with those artistic canons of painting, painted a realistic “Ultima Cena”, where the elements placed neatly in space were free and easily identifiable.
With a deception of the eye, trompe-l’oeil, the observer is projected inside the “Ultima Cena” letting himself be introduced by the architectures drawn in the background while he is crushed outside the lesser-known, but still mistral, the fresco of the crucifixion. Before observing Vinci’s work, I invite you to look at the base of the crucifixion. Leonardo, or his team, was given the task of adding four figures: the duke, the duchess with her son and daughter. All that remains of these figures are the silhouettes since the painting will soon peel off and evaporate. The same fate would have been due to the whole Cenacle if it had not been preserved by several restorations, most of the time clumsy palliatives, which gave us only the shadow of what was supposed to be the original splendour.
We pass to observe in strict silence the “Ultima Cena” letting our eyes sweep without being distracted by useless elements. To the general accusation made by the Master: “One of you will betray me!” the apostles react in a movement composed of triplets as if they were the waves that unravel from the centre of a pond that has just been hit by a stone. Elements of physics, fluid dynamics, and air blend with his artistic, theological, and philosophical research. It is no longer a simple painting, but the scene of a film in which there are twelve suspects and only one offender.
The deception is behind the obvious interpretations, waiting to be revealed to give us surprise and amazement. The suspense and possible revelation of the twist, however, will be the true mistress. Leonardo makes us suspect that Judas’s face could be that of the harassing prior of the convent of “Santa Maria delle Grazie” who wrote to Moro to deny the negligence of his pupil who was late in delivering the work. Among the apostles there is also a hypothetical self-portrait of Leonardo, perhaps he is the true Judas, but to discover it you have to read the language of the bodies and understand the intentions of the universal genius. The “Ultima Cena” will remain a mystery to be discovered despite the fact that the work has been analyzed by the best art critics and analytical chemists. All that remains for us is to enjoy the work with the same spirit in which we address the mystery of the visible and divine world.
Enjoy even more @ Luca Caricato – Leonardo Da Vinci
by Prof. Luca Caricato Art Historian – Art Expert