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Leonardo Da Vinci is nearly as famous for many of his drawings and sketches as he was for his completed paintings. The difference of course is that his completed works are much less in number and often took him years to complete. His drawings, often found in his notebooks, ranged from simple sketches of arms for use in the Last Supper to fully featured sketches of paintings he would eventually alter or never painted at all.

Because he was such an incredibly apt draftsman, there are infinitely more journals of small sketches than completed works of art. In fact, it is often said that between Leonardo Da Vinci’s studies and paintings, he preferred his studies and painted rarely because of the demands of his other studies. Regardless, he was one of the greatest artists who ever lived and it shows even in the simplest of sketches.

The earliest Da Vinci illustration, dated back to 1473, is that of a Landscape of the Arno Valley. This sketch is an incredibly detailed depiction of the river, mountains, Montelupo Castle, and farmlands beyond the castle of the valley. From here, he would go on to sketch numerous other drafts.

The most famous of his many drawings is that of the Vitruvian Man. Kept now carefully guarded, the Vitruvian Man is one of the most famous single images in history and depicts the carefully crafted proportions of the ideal male body. Another incredibly famous and largely used drawing is that of the Head of an Angel, a sketch utilized for The Virgin of the Rocks.

The most impressive of Leonardo Da Vinci’s classical drawings would have to be the 160×100 cm rendering in black chalk of The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist. Using the same techniques developed in the Mona Lisa of sfumato and shadowy corners, the drawing was never made into a painting. The closest painting to this image is that of The Virgin and Child with St. Anne.

Leonardo’s drawings consist of numerous other creations, many of which include what were once considered caricatures. However, after close studies of the heads and bodies drawn, it has been largely agreed upon that they were real models with deformities of some kind. Additionally there are numerous sketches of a certain man whose “Grecian Profile” was greatly appreciated by Leonardo during his career. The sketches often show the young man dressed in fancy costumes, possibly related to the pageants for which Leonardo occasionally worked.

There are numerous sketches devoted solely to the effects and depiction of fabric as seen in draperies. Leonardo worked extensively to do so in his early career. There is one particular sketch that exists as an early example of likely hired work. Leonardo sketched the death from hanging of Giuliano Baroncelli. He political conspiracy aside, Leonardo wrote casually of the deceased clothing.

One final famous sketch that has been tied to Leonardo and mentioned repeatedly when studying his other works is the Leonardo Da Vinci self portrait. The portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci is a simple rendition of himself in the latter years of his life. However, the controversy surrounding that picture of Leonardo Da Vinci’s face arises from the direct connection between the facial structures of the self-portrait and the Mona Lisa and St. John the Baptist. It has lead to much speculation that the Mona Lisa might in fact be Da Vinci himself or another woman. However, as there are no other pictures of Leonardo Da Vinci, there is no real way to know.

Paintings of the 1490s

In the 1490s, the most widely known and popular of Leonardo Di Vinci’s paintings is the Last Supper. Started in 1495, the painting depicts the final meal between Jesus and his disciples shortly before he was captured and executed. This piece of Leonardo da Vinci’s artwork in particular relays the exact the moment when Jesus announces that he will be betrayed.

The painting shows an entire story with each disciple reacting in their own manner. Vasari’s biography goes into great detail in the methods Leonardo took in painting the mural, and the time it took him. Some days he would paint for hours and other days he would simply stare at the wall for hours and eventually spent days walking through the city trying to find a suitable face for Judas.

The painting was finished in three years and immediately hailed as a masterpiece. However, the problem with the painting was the fact that it could not remain on the wall for longer than a decade or so before it began to flake free. Leonardo, in a rare instance of failed experimentation, tried to use new binding agents for his painting instead of the reliable old method of Fresco. It quickly molded and flaked off. However it has remained one of the most reproduced works of art on earth. How many other paintings did Leonardo da Vinci paint in his latter years though?

Paintings of the 1500s

After finishing the Last Supper, the art of Leonardo Da Vinci actually became more impressive as he took to another masterpiece that the world has been fawning over ever since. This work, the Mona Lisa, has become one of the most enduring works of art, with the knowing smile that has captivated five centuries of fans. This particular painting first utilized Leonardo’s sfumato technique, or the use of blending shadows for ambiguous lines. When Leonardo Da Vinci created the painting, female head perspective was still quite underdeveloped. Located in the Louvre today, the Mona Lisa is also one of Leonardo’s best surviving works of art and a pinnacle in understanding the subtleties of human emotion.

Many consider The Virgin and Child with St. Ann Da Vinci’s most underrated work. It is another famous composition set in landscape during these later years of his career. The figures are once more set at odd angles, much like the earlier unfinished St. Jerome piece. The painting is slightly different as Mary is seated on the knee of her mother and leans forward to support Christ as he plays with a lamb. This painting introduced numerous trends of superimposition into the landscapes that Venetian painters such as Tintoretto would pick up in later years.

In 1508, Da Vinci painted the famously lost composition of Leda and the Swan, depicting the mythical woman standing naked beside her swan, overlooking two sets of twins below, recently hatched from egg shells. Today, only copies and no original of Leonardo Da Vinci’s paintings survive to relay the image, similar to the fate of Michelangelo’s famous Leda and the Swan painting, depicting the two in the throws of love making.

Another painting that has been disputed from this era is the famously multi-credited St. John in the Wilderness painting, depicting St. John holding a stick in the wilderness with a laurel and fruit. It is unknown who painted this exactly, but its discovery has been attributed to Da Vinci’s workshop.

Completed in 1516, St. John the Baptist is considered to be Da Vinci’s last known painting. Only recently attributed to him, the painting depicts a lightly smiling St. John pointing heavenward. Heavy comparisons have been made between this painting and that of the Mona Lisa as well as the self portraits of Da Vinci to which both sets of facial features compare so readily.

Early Paintings Leonardo Da Vinci Painted and Info on Them

Many ask the question, How many paintings has Leonardo Da Vinci painted? The answer is: not very many. However, those that he did paint have become worldwide masterpieces recognized everywhere for their incredible talent. Leonardo DaVinci’s paintings first began appearing in the 1470s with the Baptism of Christ, painted in tandem with Verrocchio. During his time spent in Verrocchio’s workshop, two other paintings are believed to have been painted, both Annunciations. The first is a small 59cm long, 14 cm high piece. It is a “predella” for a much larger work, a painting by Lorenzo Di Credi. The second of these Annunciations was a 217 cm long piece, much larger in scale.

Both of these initial paintings were crafted in the very basic Fra Angelico formation, pictures of the Virgin Mary sitting on the right side of the picture with an angel to her left. The angel in both paintings is wearing a flowing gown and has raised wings and a lily. In the smaller, first picture, Mary has her eyes downcast as a submissive gesture toward God. In the second, larger picture however, Mary is not submissive at all. The second picture shows Mary with a finger placed in her bible to mark her place and a hand raised in greeting to the angelic visitor before her. She takes on her position as the Mother of God with confidence. This first of a handful of Leonardo Da Vinci paintings begins his technique of placing a human face on the image of divine figures.

Da Vinci’s Paintings of the 1480s

Beginning with Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings in the 1480s, he received two substantial commissions among a few smaller works. He started a third work that would be groundbreaking in how it was composed. The first of the two commissions was the image of St. Jerome in the Wilderness. It is barely started and Da Vinci never finished it, but what is present is very odd compared to other works of the time. Da Vinci placed the figure of Jerome in the middle of the composition and slightly below the line of sight. He forms a trapezoidal shape and looks in the opposite direction with his signature lion sprawled across the front of the painting. The landscape itself is slightly odd with craggy rock formations around the saint.

Among Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings that were never finished, the unfinished Adoration of the Magi s one of his most famous. It was commissioned by the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto. It is about 250cm square and involved years of preliminary sketches and drawings by Leonardo before he even started. However, he left in 1482 for Milan to win favor with Ludovico il Moro and was never able to finish the work.

The third and final painting from this period that Da Vinci worked on was the Virgin of the Rocks, a commission he took in Milan. The work itself was to cover an altar piece for the Immaculate Conception Church with the help of the de Predis brothers. The painting itself portrayed an image never found in the Bible but in the apocryphal tomes of other writers. It shows a meeting between John the Baptist as an infant in the care of an angel with Jesus’s family as they traveled to Egypt. The infant John sees and worships Jesus and shows them all kneeling before Christ in the midst of a series of rocks and swirling water. These baby pictures of Leonardo Da Vinci are famous throughout the world, largely because there are two completed versions when there are so few of his other works.

The painting by Da Vinci eventually completed was not nearly the commission he was given though. The brothers of the Immaculate Conception had request a much larger painting with upwards of 50 figures and full architectural details. Eventually the painting was finished and another version completed along side it, which Da Vinci took with him to France. However, no one was paid for their work and the church never received what they had asked for.

Other Last Supper Pictures in History

There have been numerous other versions of the Last Supper painted over the years. It was considered a very important piece during the Renaissance and because of that was repeatedly crafted for the sake of proving that an artist could do so. After Leonardo’s famous work, many other artists were influence by the Last Supper. There are numerous different versions. These are a few of the most famous:

Durer’s Last Supper

Durer worked numerous sketches and preliminary drawings for a series of portraits portraying the Passion and the last supper. His drawings, found and dated to the years 1521-1523, in Berlin, Florence, and Frankfurt show his intentions to create a different perspective of the Last Supper, with Christ sitting sideways.

The Last Supper by Castagno

Castagno’s depiction of the Last Supper predated Leonardo’s by almost 50 years. Originally painted in 1447, the Last Supper was a companion piece to his works depicting the Passion. The room itself is depicted as a rather sober architectural affair and is filled with numerous marble panels in full color, to set a more engaging backdrop to the affair of the painting itself. The painting is famous for many its smaller details, including the halos depicted on each of the characters and the highlights in their hair. While Judas sits, isolated on the other side of the table in this painting, John sleeps casually beside Jesus, two common themes in paintings of these figures.

The Last Supper by Domenico Ghirlandaio

Ghiraldeno’s Last Supper is depicted on the wall of a refectory in Ognissanti. His image is based very much on the architectural style of Castagno while creating a series of vivid animated  lines and angles. He refrains from any emotional or dramatic expression and depicts his figures as rather peaceful and at ease, even Judas. He keeps his Judas postured on the opposite side of the table as Christ though and most of the characters are isolated in their serene gestures.

His lunettes in particular are of note as they depict the vivid gardens and palm-trees that don’t quite fit in but create a rather bourgeois effect on the architecture. A peacock sits on the windowsill and a fine white tablecloth with fancy embroidery graces the table. It appears to be more of an Italian room and table than anything in the time of Christ.

Salvador Dali’s Sacrament of the Last Supper

Dali’s attempt to create a Last Supper came shortly after he entered what is known as his “classical period” leaving behind much of what made his Surrealist work so engaging. The painting though, is still typical Dali in that it stretches beyond the image itself. After viewing the painting, Salvador Dali’s influence from The Last Supper became very apparent in his work. He himself described his painting as “Arithmetic and philosophical cosmogory based on the paranoiac sublimity of the number twelve…the pentagon contains microman:Christ”.  His images are classical and yet modernized by the removal of triangular shapes to be replaced by five sides and the image of man above the supper.

Tintoretto’s Last Supper

During the years between 1590 and 1600, Tintoretto and his workshop were commissioned to paint numerous paintings to decorate the new Church of San Giorgio Maggiore. He gave many of the works to his coworkers. However, there is no argument that the Tintoretto Last Supper was painted by himself. He had actually painted the scene numerous times throughout his life. This particular version is one in which he has Christ mingling with his followers, an image not common in the time. There is a singular, winged figure in the light around his head in the Tintoretto Last Supper, creating a different kind of painting than any of the other Last Suppers.

The Last Supper of Phillipe de Champagne

Champagne’s Supper at Emmaus has occasionally been attributed to Philippe’s nephew Jean-Baptiste, though there is no way to be sure. The painting itself would have been painted sometime between 1631 and 1684 then depending on which of them pained it. The painting itself is a simple portrait of Jesus and two of his disciples seated with a man, most likely a server, dealing with a cat on the ground and another listening to Jesus’s words. The painting’s style has been attributed to the influence of the Jensenist Monestary near Paris, where much of Champagne’s influence derived.

The Last Supper of Jacopo Bassano

Bassano’s painting of the Last Supper is believed to date to around 1538 and is considered a premier piece in the life of the artist. The painting was likely completed during the years Bassano stayed with Bonifacio da Pitati in his workshop, a painter who himself often painted similar subjects. The painting itself is much more chaotic and crowded than many of the other productions of the Last Supper and much has been made of the manner in which Christ stands in contrast to that of the rough inn-keeper and the dog and cat teasing each other below the table. The disciples are postured in a manner that creates a forced perspective on the table and much of what appears in this painting has been credited for the later works of artists like Tintoretto in the Venetian style

There have been numerous other editions of the painting and no one really knows how many artists have painted the Last Supper. Emil Nolde’s Last Supper as well as the Last Supper of Gebhard are both great examples of fine art. Michelangelo himself was purported to have crafted a Last Supper. A simple look into the Last Supper antique prints available will reveal numerous examples of other artists’ work. You can find numerous Last Supper pictures or information on the Last Supper by Domenico Ghirlandaio or any of the other artists listed on any number of art gallery websites.

The Last Supper: A Painting with Mary Magdalene?

There are numerous theories and legends attached to the Last Supper, a painting already rife with symbols. In recent years, many of these theories have appeared in novels and in movies depicting Leonardo’s The Last Supper, controversies that have only been blown up with their inclusion in the huge selling Da Vinci Code.

One of the first legends attached to the painting, not quite a controversy, but an interesting legend regardless, is that the model used to paint Jesus is the same as the one used to paint Judas. It has been said that Leonardo hired a nice young baker, around 19 years of age to be the model for Jesus. A few years later, when finishing the mural, Leonardo hired a criminal to sit as the model for Judas. The legend has it that the model was the same person as the one used for Jesus. However, there is no direct evidence that any of this is true, especially as the mural is believed to have only taken 3 years to complete.

The biggest theory though, and one that has gotten a lot of press and attention in recent novels, is that the figure seated to the left of Jesus is actually Mary Magdalene and not John. These theories describe the figure as having a womanly bosom and the facial features of a woman. The posture is described as feminine and graceful, while Peter appears to be making a threatening gesture toward the throat. In Dan Brown’s famous Da Vinci Code, the correlation between the Last Supper and the picture of the knife were made world famous. The theory of course goes deeper as writers have postulated (and not always in fiction) that Leonardo was the head of a secret society which held such secrets.

The theory itself is subject to much criticism though. First, critics argue that the damage to the painting makes it impossible to know if the figure is male or female. Furthermore, the figure is wearing men’s clothing.

Next, there are only thirteen figures in the painting. If John were replaced by Mary Magdalene it would mean that an apostle was removed altogether. It would have been noted much earlier if an apostle were missing from the painting. The knife itself is pointing towards Bartholomew, a man who is later executed by being flayed. It is largely believed that the knife might allude to Peter’s impulsive acts later in removing a soldier’s ear.

The original sketches do not reveal any of the secrets of the Last Supper either. Originally preserved in Da Vinci’s notebooks they do not show any female faces either nor do they offer any clues that John might in fact be Mary Magdalene.

Another reason why John might look so feminine is that it was common during the time period to paint John as a youthful, feminine looking male. Because he was the youngest of the apostles, he was often shown with long hair and a clean face. He is also shown often as the most devout of the apostles, asleep beside Jesus, a common technique.

Another popular theory is that there is in fact no cup in the painting, despite the directions in which Jesus’ hands point. There are numerous cups located on the table, though the actual location is hard to discern because of the deterioration of the mural. The argument over realism in Leonardo’s paintings though continues. He largely disagreed with the use of methods such as Michelangelo’s showing supernatural forms or embellishments.

Another theory that has been created due to the nature in which the painting was created on a wall, is that a grail like image appears behind the figure of Bartholemew. However, because of the cup that some say is within reach of Jesus (though it’s impossible to be sure), it is hard to know if this is merely an optical illusion or a purposeful representation of the Holy Chalice. The image itself usually only appears in small scale reproductions. On the larger scale, the series of shapes that create the illusion only appear to do so when certain parts are removed, as with what occurs in small scale reproductions. It’s ultimately impossible to know with the deterioration of the painting.

The presence of the number 3 in Da Vinci’s painting, the Last Supper has also created much speculation over the possibilities the painting represents. The disciples are bound in threes, there are three windows behind them and Christ is placed in a pose similar to a triangle.

The Composition and Images of The Last Supper, World Famous Painting

In the composition of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, the Apostles and their reactions at hearing the news that one of them would betray Jesus are the focal points. The traditional perception of the Last Supper has always focused on Jesus. However, much of the painting is revealed in the actions of his disciples. Every one of the apostles reacts differently, each of them grouped into four groups of three.

So How Many Disciples Were at the Last Supper?

The first group, consisting of Bartholomew, James  Alphaeus and Andrew are all shocked and huddled together.

The second group of three consists of Judas Iscariot, Peter and John. This is the most controversial of the four groupings as it consist of Judas and John, who many have described as looking feminine. Judas himself is dressed in green and blue and recessed into the shadows, looking taken aback at the revelation. He holds a small bag, possibly signifying the silver he received for his betrayal. His elbow rests on the table along with that of Jude Thaddeus’s, a rude gesture of bad manners. Peter holds a knife in his hand and points it away from Christ. Finally John, the youngest of the apostles swoons in his pose.

The third grouping consists of Thomas, James Zebedee and Philip. Thomas is upset, though not angry while James is stunned by the news, with his arms raised into the air. Philip is confused in some manner, seeking further explanation of the situation.

The final grouping includes Matthew, Jude and Simon. Matthew and Jude are both turned toward Simon as though seeking answers.

It was not until the 19th century, when one of Leonardo’s notebooks was found that anyone could be sure of the exact names of the disciples at the Last Supper of Leonardo’s painting. He listed them in his notes however, making it possible to identify them.

The Last Supper picture itself is a common theme from the time period, though Leonardo utilizes numerous methods that other artists did not. While he does seat his entire cast on one side of the table as others did before, he does not exclude Judas or remove him from the table altogether. He also does not utilize halos to demarcate the good disciples from the bad. Instead, he uses a much more dramatic and realistic approach that involves recessing Judas into the shadows. He also creates a subtle mechanism for having Judas reach for the bread at the same time as Jesus, as neither realizes the other is doing so. As Jesus reaches for the bread, Judas is distracted and does the very same.

The lighting of the painting all points toward Jesus along with the angles. Everything centralizes on his figure as he stretches his arms out and creates a triangle to base the rest of the painting on.

Finally, it’s been noted how many groupings of the number 3 are included in the painting, a possible reference to the Holy Trinity by Leonardo. The Apostles are seated in groups of three. There are three windows on the wall and Jesus is a triangle himself. It’s impossible to know if there were any other references because of the manner in which the painting has deteriorated over time.

Regardless of the reasons for painting it, The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci was a common theme among Renaissance painters. It was considered something of a challenge to the master artist to put together a properly crafted representation of the last meal of Christ. Much has been made of that final meal, not only in art, but in the basic Sacraments of most dominations of Christianity.

When did Jesus celebrate the last supper with his apostles?

The history of the Last Supper itself relates the final meal of Jesus with his twelve disciples, as described in the New Testament of the Christian Bible and though the exact day of the Last Supper is debated, most agree it was the day before Passover began. The location of the Last Supper of Jesus was in the Upper Room on Mount Zion, located near the Old City of Jerusalem’s walls. During the course of the last Supper, Jesus spoke to his disciples while taking the bread and the wine, “Do this in remembrance of Me”. For that reason, the Eucharist was born, a tradition designed to remember that final meal of Christ. The room itself is known traditionally as the Upper Room.

The location of the Upper Room has been derived from the gospels stating that Jesus had a pair of disciples go to the city and meet a man who would lead them to a house where the teacher had a room. The room in question is described as the upper room and they are to prepare the Passover while there.

Because of the Last Supper’s time period, the actual city it takes place in is not known and could be anywhere just outside of Jerusalem. The Last Supper was the source for many of the symbolic actions taken by Christians in churches around the world. Jesus takes and divides the bread among his disciples, saying a prayer over it. He then hands the bread to his disciples and says this is my body. Then he takes his cup of wine and after offering another prayer, passes the cup around and says this is my blood of the everlasting ‘covenant’, which is poured for many. He then makes the instruction to do this in the memory of me.

It was also during this meal that Jesus offered the revelation that one of his apostles would betray him. It was truly the last supper that the disciples would have with Jesus. They each in turn refuse this claim, reasserting their loyalty, but Jesus insists that one of the men present will betray him. In both the gospels of Mark and Luke, the betrayer is not singled out. However Matthew and John specifically single out Judas Iscariot as the betrayer.
After confirming that Peter would deny Christ three times, Jesus finishes the meal with his disciples and begins a sermon, traditionally known as the Farewell Discourse. This final speech to his disciples in considered one of the most important descriptions of Christianity by Christ in the gospels.

The importance of the event lives on today in the form of the Eucharist of the Roman Catholic Church and the “Inauguration of the New Covenant” by most Christians. As a prophecy related by Jeremiah, this covenant refers to the line in which Christ told his disciples to eat of his body and drink of his blood. Other groups see the Last Supper as a symbol of change to the Passover ceremony, replacing the traditional Jewish practice with the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Generally, each of the major branches of Christianity has its own slightly different interpretation of the Last Supper. However, in the end, this final act by Jesus with his disciples is considered one of the most important and inspirational scenes in the Bible and subsequently in all of Renaissance Art.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper painting was originally painted starting in 1495 and was completed in 1498. The painting was commissioned by Duke Ludovico Sforza and his wife Beatrice d’Este to be painted as a mural in Milan. The painting itself is a recreation of The Last Supper as described in the Gospel of John regarding the final days of Jesus Christ. The scene Leonardo chooses is the moment at which Jesus reveals that one of his disciples will betray him.

Measuring 15 x 29 Feet, the mural is found in the back of the dining hall of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. During the time in which Leonardo painted it, depictions of the Last Supper were very common. It was a challenge to all good Renaissance painters to recreate the Last Supper. However, Leondardo’s depiction garnered so much fame and admiration because it was so much different than the others. Using the sense of realism he infused in many of his paintings, the Last Supper was a wonderful example of his talents. However, some criticism has been leveled due to the consequences of the painting technique Leonardo Da Vinci used in the Last Supper and its rapid deterioration.

The painting itself is rife with important references to his patron, including the Sforzas coats-of-arms, located along the top of the painting beneath the arches of the ceiling. There were also originally figures of the Sforza family added in tempera to the piece, though like the main painting itself, they have rapidly deteriorated over time.

By the time Leonardo’s biographer, Giorgio Vasari, was writing his histories, the painting was already largely ruined by decomposition. It’s believed that such flaking began to occur as early as 1517 and continued for centuries. In 1652 a large doorway was cut through the middle of the painting, which at this point was largely unrecognizable. It was bricked up in time, but an irregular shape in the painting can still be seen today. Numerous copies were made early in the life of the painting which depict different versions, though it is impossible to know what the mural really looked like any longer.

In 1768, a curtain was hung to protect the painting from further deterioration. Unfortunately, the curtain only served cause the build up of moisture. When the curtain was moved, it would flake even more paint free of the wall. Da Vinci’s Last Supper was first restored in 1726 by Michelangelo Bellotti. He filled in the missing sections with oils and varnished it over. Unfortunately this restoration barely lasted and in 1770 another painter tried again. Giuseppe Mazza removed all of Bellotti’s restoration work and almost completely repainted the mural. The public was unhappy with the repainting though and he was eventually halted.

Only 26 years later, in 1796 French Troops utilized the room for an armory all the while throwing rocks at it and purposely gouging out the eyes of the Apostles. Later, the room was used as a prison and further damage still could have been inflicted. Later, in 1821, Stefano Barezzi was hired to move what everyone thought was a fresco as such work was his specialty. However, because the painting was not a fresco, he damaged the painting severely. He attempted to reattach those sections he had destroyed with glue. Later, in 1901, Luigi Cavenaghi did a full study of the painting and the structure behind it before starting on a full cleaning. Later, in 1924 Oreste Silvestri continued the job of cleaning the painting and restoring the broken bits and pieces.

However, the painting was still not quite safe. On August 15, 1943, the room was hit with a bomb. Though the wall was sandbagged, the vibrations from the bombing may have damaged it even further. After the war, Mauro Pelliccioli attempted another cleaning of the painting.

By the time the 1970s arrived, the painting was largely unrecognizable. So, from 1978 to 1999 Pinin Brambilla Barcilon undertook a massive restoration process, the goal of which was to stabilize the painting for good and remove the damage inflicted over the years. The entire room was turned into a museum, sealed off from the outside world, as the painting could not be moved. The portions of the painting that could not be restored accurately were repainted using careful watercolors while the rest was studied and researched using old drawings and sketches from throughout the world. Upon finishing, Barcilon was able to recreate the first full picture of the Last Supper in hundreds of years. Today, the Last Supper painting sits in its current exhibit in Milan. To view the painting you must sign up for a long waiting list and are only given 15 minutes when you enter the exhibit.

The importance of the Last Supper to pop culture has also seen a recent spike as more and more people find interesting bits and pieces in the painting to discuss. The release of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code in 2003 only helped that popularity to spike, while movies and television have been using the famous image for years now to depict the themes of Da Vinci’s painting. For those still interested in learning more, you can find incredibly detailed information on Da Vinci’s Last Supper on Last Supper wikis, as well as excellent Last Supper reprints in most art shops around the world.

To cap the Mona Lisa off, here’s a light hearted video showing someone with amazing talent. This is drawn using MS Paint, that’s the free software that you get with Windows. Anyone who’s used it knows that it’s impossible to draw anything with; apparently not…

To view just click play and the video will load. The red bar will fill up as the video downloads. If you have a slower connection it might be worthwhile to pause the video, let it download a bit and then play to stop it getting interupted.

Ah, the Mona Lisa. She been one of the most inspirational women in history and we don’t even really know if she was real or even a woman. The most popular theory and the most probable one as well is that the subject of the portrait was Mona Lisa, the wife of the rich silk merchant, Francesco del Giocondo. However, it has been suggested that it is a portrait of da Vinci’s mother and also that it is a self portrait.

Regardless of whom the true subject of the painting is, the most endearing and enigmatic feature of the Mona Lisa is her smile. This smile has been talked about and studied for centuries and the reason for it still eludes us. The most recent attempt at determining the mystery behind the famous smile has been to run the portrait through a computer program that analyzes emotion based on facial features such as the curve of the mouth. According to this study, Mona Lisa was 83 percent happy, 9 percent disgusted, 6 percent fearful, and 2 percent angry. Wow, what a mix?

Now to the real reason behind the mysterious smile. It is simply because the smile seems to disappear and then re-appear right before your very eyes. Or, according to a new theory offered by Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Margaret Livingstone, it doesn’t really change; it is simply an effect of eye movement. When we look at the painting and our eyes move from one aspect of it to another, the smile will disappear and re-appear depending on the shadows, etc…

This theory isn’t all that surprising when you consider the incredible scientific, anatomical, and artistic genius of da Vinci. If anyone could have pulled this of it was him. However, there is at least one person out there who is convinced it is a self-portrait. Dr. Lillian Schwartz of Bell Labs digitized the Mona Lisa and his self-portrait and then superimposed them. The facial features lined up perfectly.

We may never know who posed for the famous portrait and it is less likely that we will ever know what is behind the enigmatic smile, but in the end it doesn’t really matter. The important thing is that da Vinci did what artists dream of doing. He created a piece of art that has brought feeling and joy to millions of people. If you visit Paris you can stand in line for hours to get a mere 15 seconds to look at it and take a picture. This doesn’t seem very practical, but considering millions of people do it every year, there must be something about that smile…