Leonardo and the Last Supper

Delve into the tumultuous five years Leonardo da Vinci spent in Milan, culminating in the creation of one of art's most iconic masterpieces: The Last Supper. In 1496, facing professional uncertainty and financial strain, the 44-year-old Leonardo, already known for abandoning commissions, embarked on an unprecedented challenge. Ross King masterfully reconstructs the arduous three-year process behind this monumental mural, a work fifteen feet high and twenty feet wide, for which Leonardo possessed no prior fresco experience. Discover the experimental techniques he employed, the models who inspired Christ and the Apostles, and the intense adversities he faced, all set against the vibrant backdrop of late 15th-century Milan. From Leonardo's young apprentices to the powerful Duke Ludovico Sforza, King illuminates the human drama behind this artistic 'miracle,' tracing its journey from a perilous undertaking to a timeless cultural and religious icon that, even centuries later, feels more a work of nature than of man. This book is both a vivid biography of Leonardo during a pivotal period and an intimate chronicle of the birth of a legend.