The Last Supper is without a doubt the most famous painting of Jesus Christ.
The scene recreates the last Passover meal between Jesus and his apostles, based on the story described in the Gospel of John, chapter 13. The artist imagined, and has managed to express, the desire that has entered the minds of the apostles to know who is betraying his Master.
Painted by none other than Leonardo da Vinci, it represents the last supper of Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles.
Painted at the end of the 15th century as a mural on the walls of the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.
Fresco paintings are usually created by applying pigment over intonaco, or a thin layer of wet lime plaster.
This is normally the best technique to use as it allows the fresco to take care of the natural breathing or sweating that a wall does as moisture moves to the surface.
However, in The Last Supper da Vinci decides to use oil paint as this material dries much slower and would allow him to work on the image in a much slower and more detailed way.
Leonardo knew that the natural moisture that penetrates through most stone-walled buildings would have to be sealed if he used oil paints, or it would ruin his work.
The artist added a double layer of plaster, putty and pitch to combat deterioration.
However the artwork has had to be restored many times in its long history.
Very little remains of the initial top layer of the oil paint as a result of environmental and deliberate damage.
The Last Supper is ranked no. 33 on the list of famous paintings
