Description of the attraction
Santa Maria delle Grazie is a church and Dominican monastery in Milan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The main attraction of the church is the painting "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci, painted on the wall of the monastery dining room.
The construction of the Dominican monastery and church was started by order of the Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza I, on the site where a small church dedicated to Our Lady of Mercy had previously stood. Guiniforte Solari was appointed as the architect. In 1469, the construction of the monastery was completed, but the church was still under construction for some time. The new duke, Ludovico Sforza, decided that the church should become the burial vault of the Sforza family and ordered the rebuilding of the cloister and apse - the work was completed after 1490. In 1497, Ludovico's wife, Beatrice, was buried here.
It is believed that Donato Bramante worked on the design of the church apse, although there is no reliable evidence of this. However, his name is engraved on a small piece of marble on the vaults of the temple, the inscription dates back to 1494.
In 1543, the Chapel of the Holy Cross on the right side of the nave was decorated with a painting by Titian "Laying of the Crown of Thorns", which is now kept in the Parisian Louvre (removed by Napoleon's troops at the end of the 18th century). Also, this chapel is decorated with frescoes by Gaudenzio Ferrari. And in a small cloister, located next to the door to the sacristy, you can see a fresco by Bramantino. Another attraction of the church is the frescoes by Bernardo Zenale.
But, of course, the main value of Santa Maria delle Grazie is the world famous painting "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci. It was painted in 1495-98 and depicts the scene of the last supper of Jesus Christ with his disciples. During the Second World War, on the night of August 15, 1943, bombs dropped by British and American troops destroyed the church and monastery building. Most of the refectory was in ruins, but some walls miraculously survived, including the one that depicts Da Vinci's Last Supper. From 1978 to 1999, a large-scale restoration of the painting was carried out, which made it possible to preserve it for posterity.
