The cleaning of the painting from 1972 to 1976 showed that only some of the lower left figures were completed by assistants, while the majority of the painting was by Raphael himself. It would be Raphael’s finally painting and he would work on it right up until his death in April 1520. The painting can be viewed as reflecting a dichotomy at the simplest level: the redemptive force of Christ, as symbolized by the purity and symmetry of the top half of the painting as opposed to the shortcomings of Man, as symbolized in the bottom half of the painting by the gloomy, chaotic scenes.

In 1797 however it was taken by French troops as part of Napoleon’s Italian campaign and subsequently hung in the Louvre. It was originally conceived as a alter piece that was to hang as the central altarpiece for the Narbonne Cathedral in France it now hangs in the Pinacoteca Vaticana in Vatican City.įollowing Raphael’s death the painting was never sent to France and the Cardinal instead hung on the high altar in the Blessed Amadeo’s church of San Pietro in Montorio, Rome in 1523. The transfiguration is the final work by the great renaissance artist Raphael that was commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de Medici of the Medici banking dynasty. Very little of the initial top layer of oil painting is left as a consequence of both environmental and deliberate damage. The artwork has had to be restored many times in its long history. He added a double coat of gesso, mastic, and pitch to fight this. Leonardo knew that the natural moisture that permeates through most stone wall buildings would have to be sealed if he were to use oil paints, or it would ruin his work. However, with the Last Supper da Vinci decide to use oil paint as it dries much slower and would allow him to work on the image in a much slower and more detailed manner. This is normally the best technique to use as it allows the fresco to deal with the natural breathing or sweating that a wall does as moisture moves out to the surface.

Painted in the late 15th century as a mural on the walls of the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.įresco paintings are usually created by applying pigment onto intonaco, or a thin layer of wet lime plaster. Painted by none other than Leonardo da Vinci it depicts the last supper of Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles. The most famous painting of Jesus Christ is without doubt the last supper.

Real jesus piece