About The Last Supper: Leonardo da Vinci's Milan Masterpiece

Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper for a duke's dining hall between 1495 and 1498, using a technique that started ruining it almost immediately. It has survived a bombing, centuries of neglect, and one of the longest restorations ever attempted on a single artwork. This page covers that history, not visit logistics like opening times or how to book.

Highlights

Leonardo's mural, the refectory hall, and Montorfano's Crucifixion on the opposite wall.

Location

Piazza di Santa Maria delle Grazie, 2, 20123 Milan. Directions

Visit duration

15 minutes inside the viewing room, plus check-in time. Plan your visit

Tickets and tours

Skip-the-line tickets with a guided tour, from €75.90. Tickets

Nearby

Castello Sforzesco, Parco Sempione, Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology

Why The Last Supper Still Matters

One of the most reproduced paintings in the world, painted by Leonardo da Vinci between 1495 and 1498 for Duke Ludovico Sforza.

Captures a single dramatic instant: the moment Jesus tells the twelve apostles that one of them will betray him.

Leonardo painted it in tempera on dry plaster rather than true fresco, a choice that let him work slowly and revise but caused the paint to start flaking within his own lifetime.

Survived an Allied bombing raid on 15 August 1943 that destroyed most of the refectory around it; the wall carrying the painting was protected by sandbags.

Underwent a 21-year technical restoration, completed in 1999, that removed centuries of overpainting and stabilized what was left of the original surface.

Shares its refectory with a second, less famous mural: Donato Montorfano's Crucifixion, painted on the opposite wall in the same years.

Part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980, together with the church and Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie that houses it.

A Duke's Commission, a Technique That Doomed Itself

Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, commissioned the painting as part of renovations to Santa Maria delle Grazie, the church he intended as his family's burial site. Leonardo began work around 1495 and finished on 9 February 1498, according to a contemporary account.

Rather than paint in true fresco, which required working quickly into wet plaster, Leonardo used tempera over a dry ground of gesso, pitch and mastic. It gave him the slow, revisable process he preferred, but the technique never bonded properly to the wall. The paint began failing within Leonardo's own lifetime, and the mural has needed near-constant intervention ever since.

Inside the Refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie

The Refectory

The Last Supper covers the whole north wall of the dining hall, or refectory, of what was once a working Dominican convent attached to the church. It's the reason the room survives at all: everything else around it has been rebuilt or repurposed over the centuries.

Montorfano's Crucifixion

Directly opposite Leonardo's mural, the refectory's south wall carries a second fresco: Donato Montorfano's Crucifixion, painted in the same years. It's a large, symmetrical composition of the crucified Christ between two thieves, and it survives in far worse condition than its more famous neighbor, largely because Montorfano used a conventional fresco technique that has fared differently over time.

Leonardo himself is thought to have added a handful of donor portraits to its lower corners; they've deteriorated too badly to make out clearly today.

Santa Maria delle Grazie

The church and convent around the refectory were begun in 1463 and largely finished by 1497. The building mixes two eras: a Gothic nave from the original design and a Renaissance apse, dome and cloister added later, traditionally credited at least in part to the architect Donato Bramante.

Ludovico Sforza had the apse rebuilt to serve as his family's mausoleum; his wife, Beatrice d'Este, was buried there the same year the church was completed.

How the Painting Survived

Bombed in World War II

On 15 August 1943, Allied bombing hit the convent and destroyed most of the refectory's roof and walls. The wall carrying The Last Supper had been protected with sandbags and scaffolding beforehand, and survived largely intact, though the shockwaves are thought to have caused additional damage to an already fragile surface. The rest of the room was rebuilt after the war.

A 21-Year Restoration

Leonardo's technique meant the painting had already been repainted and touched up several times by the 20th century, most heavily in the 1770s. Between 1978 and 1999, restorer Pinin Brambilla Barcilon led a project to strip away those later additions and stabilize whatever original paint remained, using microscopic analysis to separate Leonardo's own work from centuries of retouching. The restored painting went back on display in 1999, in far more fragmentary condition than earlier restorations had suggested, but with what's left now confirmed as authentic.

Ready to See The Last Supper?

Six centuries after Ludovico Sforza commissioned it, Leonardo's mural is still one of the hardest tickets in Milan to get, precisely because so few people are allowed to see it at once. Whichever part of its story brought you here, from the sandbags that saved it to the 21 years spent restoring it, the real thing is worth planning around.

Browse tickets for a timed entry slot, or see what to expect on the day on Plan Your Visit.

Last Supper: Skip-the-Line Ticket + Guided Tour

Highlights

Avoid waiting in queues with skip-the-line access.

Experience a live tour led by an expert guide in English.

Discover detailed stories behind the artwork and the church.

Visit a UNESCO World Heritage site, including the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and its historic refectory.

Enjoy a concise one-hour guided experience.

Milan Cathedral, Last Supper, and La Scala: Admission + City Tour

Highlights

Discover Milan’s iconic landmarks such as the Gothic Duomo and the historic Castello Sforzesco.

Explore the elegant Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a central meeting place filled with shops and cafés.

Access Teatro alla Scala’s theater and museum, learning about its rich opera history.

View Leonardo Da Vinci’s renowned artwork, The Last Supper, inside the Santa Maria delle Grazie church.

Enjoy comfortable transportation aboard an air-conditioned coach during the tour.

Highlights of The Last Supper and Santa Maria delle Grazie

Frequently Asked Questions About The Last Supper's History

Who painted The Last Supper and when was it finished?

Leonardo da Vinci painted it for Duke Ludovico Sforza, working from around 1495 until finishing on 9 February 1498, according to a contemporary record.

Why did Leonardo use tempera instead of a true fresco technique?

True fresco requires painting quickly into wet plaster, and Leonardo wanted more time to work and revise. He used tempera over a dry ground instead, but the paint never bonded properly to the wall, and it began deteriorating within his own lifetime.

What is the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie?

It's the dining hall of the Dominican convent that was once attached to the church. The Last Supper covers its entire north wall, and it's the reason the room has been preserved rather than rebuilt or repurposed.

What's on the wall opposite The Last Supper?

A second fresco, Donato Montorfano's Crucifixion, painted in the same years on the refectory's south wall. It survives in worse condition than Leonardo's mural, even though it used a more conventional technique.

Did The Last Supper survive World War II?

Yes. Allied bombing on 15 August 1943 destroyed most of the refectory, but the wall carrying the painting had been protected with sandbags and scaffolding and survived largely intact.

How was The Last Supper restored?

Restorer Pinin Brambilla Barcilon led a 21-year technical restoration, completed in 1999, that removed centuries of overpainting and retouching to reveal what was left of Leonardo's original work.

Is The Last Supper part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

Yes, since 1980, as part of the Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, recognized together with the painting itself.

Who built the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie?

Construction began in 1463 under Guiniforte Solari, who designed the Gothic nave. Duke Ludovico Sforza later had the apse rebuilt in Renaissance style, work traditionally linked at least in part to the architect Donato Bramante, to serve as his family's mausoleum.