Click on image for a much better view.

Reservations to see the fresco must be made a few days in advance and the guidebooks warn that this can be a trial -- but, thanks to our hotel, getting our tickets proved to be very easy for us. And an excellent audio-guide presentation added a great deal to our understanding.

An interesting counterpoint was the painting on another wall of the refectory by Giovanni Donato Montorfano. He was probably a master for his time, and the painting would stand well on its own in almost any other setting, but the contrast between his and da Vinci's use of color, perspective and light were unmistakable even to a couple of amateurs like us.

Leonardo Da Vinci created this fresco on a wall of the refectory (dining hall) adjoining the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Miraculously, it survived a bombing of the building in World War II, even though the ceiling and the western wall of the refectory were destroyed, leaving it completely open to the elements.

It did not survive intact an earlier attack by an aesthetically blind Dominican who decided in 1652 to put a door in the wall, chopping out the section of Da Vinci's fresco showing Christ's feet in the process. His reason? He wanted easier access to his quarters in the next room.

The recent restoration is a happier story. It's one case where technology and art made very good companions. Surface deposits that had built up over the centuries were removed, flaked paint was restored and, in general, the work returned to something close to its original glory. The fresco is now lighted only enough to illuminate the work, while the refectory is kept in semi-darkness with careful monitoring of heat and humidity.