The story of The Last Supper

The Last Supper is a mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan, representing the scene of the last supper of Jesus with his twelve disciples announcing that one of them would betray him. 
Leonardo da Vinci began to work on The Last Supper in 1495, and completed it in 1498 as he did not work on the painting continuously. However, the painting was starting to flake as early as 1517. That’s because of the medium Leonardo used. Leonardo painted The Last Supper on a dry wall rather than on wet plaster,, he chose to seal the stone wall with a layer of pitch, gesso and mastic, then paint onto the sealing layer with tempera. 
By 1556, the figures of the painting was already unrecognizable. In 1652, a doorway was cut through the painting, Jesus’ and three disciples’ feet were removed. In 1796, Napoleon occupied Milan, the refectory was used as an armory and latter as a prison. During the second World War, the refectory was struck by a bomb. The military and local people used sandbags to protect the painting from being struck by booms. In the late 1970s, the painting had become badly damaged. From 1978 to 1999, Pinin Brambilla Barcilon guided a major restoration project to stabilize the painting and reverse the damages. 
On May 28 1999, the painting was returned to display. The visitors need to book ahead and have only 15 minutes to visit. There are two well known early copies of The Last Supper by Leonardo’s assistants, one accurate copy is by Giampietrino, and the other with some alterations is by Cesare da Sesto.