"When evening came, he sat down with his twelve disciples,
and, while they were at table, he said: Believe me, one of you is to betray me.
They were full of sorrow, and began to say, one after another, Lord, is it I? He
answered, The man who has put his hand into the dish with me will betray me. The
Son of Man goes on his way, as the scripture foretells of him; but woe upon that
man by whom the Son of Man is to be betrayed; better for that man if he had
never been born". (Matthew, XXVI, 21-24).
As soon as Christ reveals the tragic truth, the disciples, in a state of
agitation, begin to ask themselves who among them is the traitor. Peter, the
founder of the Church, is shocked and horrified; John, the dearest one, stands
leaning against the Lord's chest; Judas, the antagonist, broods darkly.
The climax of Christ's earthly life, before the Institution of Eucharist and his
Sacrifice on the Cross, is the dramatic scene of the Last Supper. This scene
seemed particularly suitable for the decoration of the great conventual
refectories, especially in Florence, with its ideal theme of meditation and
prayer offered to the monastic community united for the purpose of eating.
Throughout the 14th century, the scene of the Last Supper was included in the
grandiose cycles of frescoes which illustrated the Life and the Passion of
Christ. During the 15th century, with invention of perspective, the Supper began
to be represented independently on an entire wall. The "squared cut", already
used by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua and then by Taddeo Gaddi in the
Florentine Last Supper in Santa Croce, looks forward to the strongly compressed cubic space bathed in
light of Andrea del Castagno's monumental Supper in Santa Apollonia. The
frescoed representations of the Last Supper by Domenico Ghirlandaio in Florence
and in the Abbey at Passignano, which just predate Leonardo da Vinci's Last
Supper in Milan, are characterized by a descriptive naturalism. Leonardo's
exceptional masterpiece, on the other hand, served to glorify and spread the
Florentine "fashion" in Northern Italy. In Florence, Franciabigio's technique in
his Cenacolo della Calza was highly influenced by Leonardo, while the colour and
light of an Umbrian landscape characterize Perugino's Cenacolo di Foligno. In
the Last Supper at San Salvi, Andrea del Sarto surpasses the existing tradition
imparting to his painting a luminosity worthy of Michelangelo and a
psychological penetration that renders the figures full of "magnitude, majesty
and infinite grace".
Following the 18th century supression of monastic orders, the Cenacoli have
become monuments of exceptional artistic value and are today open to the public.
The greatest Florentine Last Suppers: a spirituality
regained.
The Cenacolo of Santa Croce.
The Last Supper by Taddeo Gaddi (c.1340). Above it are the Tree of the Cross and
other scenes. Fresco. Previously attribued to Giotto, it is perhaps the first
great representation of the "Last Supper" in Florence.
Florence, Museo dell'Opera di
Santa Croce in the great hall of the 14th century ex-refectory.
The Cenacolo of Santo
Spirito
A fragment of the Last Supper. Above it stands the scene of the Crucifixion by
A. Orcagna (c. 1370).
Florence, refectory of Santo
Spirito. Fondazione Romano.
The Cenacolo of Santa
Apollonia.
Above this Last Supper is the Crucifixion, Deposition and Resurrection by Andrea
del Castagno (c. 1450).
Florence, Museo del Cenacolo di Sant'Apollonia,via XXVII Aprile, 1 (in the
refectory of the convent of Sant' Apollonia).
The Cenacolo of the Badia at Passignano.
The first of the great representations of the Last Supper by D. Ghirlandaio
(1476).
Florence, Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, Badia di Passignano.
"In the centre of the painting stand the two main actors of the great drama:
Judas, aware of his betrayal, with his stance, his look, his hair in disorder,
expresses his gloomy solitude; Christ, with an expression of religious solemnity,
looks towards the table with his right hand raised as a sign of blessing and
seems almost comforted by the presence of John who, in that moment, stands with
his head resting against the Lord's chest". (P.N. Vasaturo, 1989).
The Cenacolo of
Ognissanti.
The Last Supper in the large refectory of the Ognissanti convent is by
Domenico Ghirlandaio (1480). The "sinopia" of the fresco can also be seen.
Florence, Cenacolo del Ghirlandaio, Borgognissanti, 42.
The Cenacolo of San Marco.
This fresco by Domenico Ghirlandaio representing the Last Supper (c. 1482)
decorates the small refectory of the Domenican convent of San Marco.
Florence, Museo di San Marco,
piazza San Marco, 1.
The
Cenacolo of Fuligno.
In the refectory of the ex-convent of the Franciscan tertiares of S. Onofrio,
known as Fuligno, the artist Perugino painted his Last Supper (c. 1495). This
particular Last Supper is characterized by a bright Umbrian background. The
figures seem to have been executed by the artist's assistants.
Florence, Conservatorio di Foligno, via Faenza, 42.
The Cenacolo della Calza.
The convent were Franciabigio painted the whole back wall with a representation
of the Last Supper (l514) used to be called S.Giovanni alla Porta di San Pier
Gattolino. Its current name derives from the hood worn by the monks.
Florence, Convento della Calza, Piazza della Calza, 6.
The Cenacolo of San
Salvi.
In the old refectory of the Vallombrosan Abbey on the outskirts of Florence,
Andrea del Sarto painted the life-like Last Supper, his most spectacular
masterpiece and "one of the most beautiful paintings in the world". The Last
Supper was begun in 1519 and was finished between 1526 and 1527.
Florence, Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto, via San Salvi, 16.
"...And he painted it in so good a style that his work was held to be, as it
certainly is, the most smooth, the most vivacious in colouring and drawing that
he ever did, or rather that anyone could do. For apart from all the rest, he
gave such infinite grace, grandeur, and majesty to all the figures that I do not
know how to praise his Last Supper without saying too little, it being so fine
that whoever sees it is stupefied. It is no wonder that, because of its
excellence, during the devastations of the siege of Florence in the year 1529,
it was allowed to be left standing, while the soldiers and wrecking squads, by
command of those in charge, destroyed all the suburbs around the city, and the
monasteries, hospitals and all other buildings. These men, let me say, having
destroyed the church and the campanile of San Salvi, and started to tear down
part of the convent, had reached the refectory containing the Last Supper when
the man who led them, seeing and perhaps having heard speak of this marvellous
painting, abandoned what they had embarked on and would not let any more of the
place be destroyed, putting this off till they could not do otherwise". (Giorgio
Vasari, 1568).
"The same sense of awe also strikes the modern-day visitor who, finding himself
in the evocative atmosphere of the convent, passes from the kitchen, with its
enormous traditional stone fireplace, to the room with an elegant lavabo carved
by Benedetto da Rovezzano, and finally enters into the huge refectory whose back
wall features the Last Supper, painted with all the vitality of a theatrical
show". (Serena Padovani, l986).
