Art Trivia

Today’s question:

In “The Last Supper”, Leonardo DaVinci painted Jesus’ feet into the painting, but who came in later and removed them?

Answer: A carpenter!

A doorway was cut through the (by then unrecognizable) painting in 1652, and later bricked up; this can still be seen as the irregular arch shaped structure near the center base of the painting. (It is believed, through early copies, that Jesus’ feet were in a position symbolizing the forthcoming crucifixion).

(source: Wikipedia)

DaVinci’s iconic painting was plagued with issues of flaking and decay almost from the moment it was completed.  As reported in Wikipedia, by 1556 — less than sixty years after it was finished — Vasari described the painting as already “ruined” and so deteriorated that the figures were unrecognizable. By the second half of the sixteenth century, Gian Paolo Lomazzo stated that, “…the painting is all ruined.”