we hadn't, exactly, picked our airbnb location
due to the proximity of this mural,
but it ended up being a 5-minute walk -
making us quickly feel a wee bit
like locals :)
Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper
the mural was painted
between 1495 - 1498
on a wall of the refectory (dining hall)
of the convent adjoining a church,
Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan at the time,
was Leonardo's patron
& commissioned Leonardo to paint
the mural during renovations of the church.
there is, actually,
little of the original mural
that remains, unfortunately.
(what you see is primarily restoration)
Leonardo, due to a somewhat artistic approach
to work, used materials that could
be constantly amended, even months later -
materials which, conversely,
just don't hold up to the passage of years...
including a period of time when
the mural was exposed to the elements
due to bombing during WW2
on the opposite wall
of the refectory is a mural
of Christ's crucifixion
to which Leonardo added figures
of the powerful Sforza family
the tour of the mural & some related materials
ran like clockwork, with one tour
after another setting off through
the building you saw in my first photo.
along the tour route, the doors
were set - it appeared -
to automatically open at
the designated time for one group
to leave a space & another to enter,
so there was absolutely
no dawdling or sidebars!
(in fact, when one person on our tour
asked a somewhat off-topic question,
our tour guide answered it
but then prefaced her next monologue
with the caveat that she was now
going to run out of time and would be
unable to provide all of the content
we might have otherwise been offered!
as you can imagine,
no one asked another question.)
our tour, in English
(which was the catch-all tour
for anyone who didn't speak Italian),
was led by the aforementioned
and incredibly ardent
da Vinci aficionado
who imparted many interesting
tidbits about the expressions and gestures
you see in Jesus and the Disciples,
such as gazes that meet or don't meet
and the position of hands.
Jesus' right cheek is turned towards the viewer
& located at the vanishing point
for the entire scene.
here's a view of the outside of the refectory -
the two tall (darkened) windows look into the wall
on which The Last Supper is painted
& here's our passionate tour guide,
who was delighted to answer many questions
after the tour was completed
& we were outside in the courtyard :)
after the tour, we - of course -
went into Santa Maria delle Grazie,
the church attached to the convent
it became interesting to note
how our trip highlights centered
around religious art and buildings,
moving from mosques to, now, cathedrals.
but that is where wealth & beauty lay,
i suppose. and also
what has been preserved
(and fought over,
in some cases).
what became, for me, a delight
was the scent of incense
as we came through the
doors of each Catholic church.
i never could find a sure source,
so perhaps it simply lingered
after mass, when it is dispersed
at the altar through great, swinging arcs
of the censer, the smoky incense
dissipating throughout the nave.
we spent a lot of time
looking UP on this trip!
in Milan, we often saw these
snake-like designs
(or possibly rays of the sun) -
but i believe they referenced
the Sforza family's crest,
which was a coiled snake!
you just simply
can't truly absorb it all -
there is just
so.much.ART!
we are not Catholic,
so i didn't light candles -
but i thoroughly enjoyed
the ambience created by them
i loved all the side chapels
in these churches -
each one unique
Santa Maria delle Grazie
so beautiful!
& don't forget
to look UP!
it's pretty on the outside, too!
it was so interesting to be in these spaces
after having been in Istanbul's mosques
(and the mosques that had originally been churches)
we were doing the La Scala
ticket dance again
for opera tonight,
so it's possible that we
- at this point -
nabbed our Important Numbers
(and got on the Important List)
prior to visiting the
absolutely
jaw-dropping
we ended up visiting this church
again (and maybe again)...
it was simply
STUNNING
very unassuming from the outside,
every surface inside
is exquisitely covered
with beautiful murals
this is the "hall of nuns,"
from where the nuns of the convent
watched the mass
behind the metal grate divider
you can see at the bottom
of the photo (above)
though the site was a Benedictine Monastery
in the 8th-9th century,
the church was completely rebuilt in 1503
through the patronage of Ippolita Sforza
i was interested in this
quite old lock box...
perhaps where a relic
was kept?
oh, the beauty of
finding the more hidden art
in quiet little corners
by now, we had our
Important Numbers
and were on the Important List...
so we decided to do some
grocery shopping & have a
bit of a rest time back at our place
grocery shopping in other countries
is fun, mostly to covertly watch
the regulars and see what
they're putting in their carts -
but, also, to put some quality
Italian pasta, sauce, & cheese
in our own cart!
(we actually had a kitchen
in our airbnb and planned
to eat in a little bit)
this was a small Carrefour Express
not too far from our place.
it's describe as a "convenience store"
but felt more like an upscale grocery to me.
~ ~ ~
soon, we were headed back out
(not much rest on this vacation!)
to claim our ten-dollar tickets
at La Scala for the evening's
performance of Boris Gudonov!
as before, there's a couple of hours
between when you get your tickets
and when you need to be in your seat -
just enough time for a quick
aperitivo nearby & a bit of a stroll,
so that's what we did!
we selected a sparkly place
near La Scala called
sharing a small plate of delectable items
and enjoying our drinks
then we took a stroll
towards the Duomo,
passing again the gorgeous
where, on another day,
there was a line of people
eager for a spritz of Dior perfume
we walked through the
admiring the gorgeous
Swarovski Crystal tree
in the center
every corner featured
luxury retail stores - oh, my!
but, to me, even more stunning
was emerging from the Galleria
to THIS...
the Duomo di Milano
i mean, seriously...
have you ever seen something
so stupendous? i don't think i have!
oh, and another crystal tree!
(this time from Versace, i believe)
gah! i mean, just look
at those windows!
gorgeous!
but it was time to wander back
towards La Scala
& take our seats...
through the side door,
with the velvet-caped doormen
this time, we'd gotten seats in the second gallery
(the highest spot in the theatre)
so we could be right in the center
&, hopefully, see the stage
decently
(which was the case, as long as
we perched on the edge of
our closed seat or stood)
Boris Gudonov might not have been
on our opera radar,
but it was an interesting plot
with great sets and costumes
&, as operas are want to go,
a fairly bloody & tragic outcome
for most involved
most of the time, i wasn't at all sure
what was going on,
but the sets were so interesting!
& the opera singers were superb!
such as Ildar Abdrazakov,
who sang the part of Boris Godunov.
& you can applaud with vigor
regardless of whether you
understood a word!
what a stellar day!
