Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1903-07-20

ished Leonardo ia Ninci,s great pic
ture Of The Last Supper" contain
ing the most exquisitely tender por-
trait of the Savior ever painted, is at
last completely effaced.
1t was n the refectory, or monks
dining hall of the Church of Santa
Maria della Grazie at Milan.
The church Is in a damp situation,
and is periodically flooded. For two
centuries the picture was seen to be
perishing 1t could not be removed,
for it is painted on the wall. Every
thing was done to arrest the disaster.
The temperature was artifically regu-
lated. The public was excluded. The
wall was heated to drive out the
damp But all was in vain.
The freso had long been extensively
disfigured but now the eyes of the
Savior, the last feature which could
be clearly distinguished, have disap-
peared. This final change has taken
place within the last six months.
The process which has destroyed
the picture has been a discoloration of
the paint, a ccompanied by peellng
off of large quantities.
Such is the sad end of the greatest
work of Leoiardo da Vinci, who is re-
garded by the majority of critics as
the greatest painter who ever lived.
"The Last Supper was painted by
Leonardo shortly after 1900, when the
church and monastery were already
decaying. The building was badly
flooded in 1900 and at frequent in
tervals after tnat until the nine
teenth century.
In the sixteenth century the paint
was badly neglected. The whitewash-
ed walls formed a bad backing.
Cracks opened everywhere and the
great surface split into numberless
small flakes which slowly began to
peel off.
In 1896 Napoleon's cavalry stalled
their horses in the refectory and add
ed new coat of mildew to the paint
ings.
The idea of painting "The Last
Supper in the refectory was a hne
one Opposite the entrance at the
end of the hall stood the prior's
table. with a table for the monks on
either side, all three raised step
above the ground. When the visitor
turned around he saw painted on the
wall above the not very high doors
a fourth table, at which were seated
Christ and His disciples, as if they
belonged to this company. 1t must
have been an impressive sight at
meal time when the tables of Christ
and the prior looked upon each other
and the monks found themselves IN
closed between them.
The picture stands about ten feet
above the floor The thirteen figures,
each one half larger than life size,
occupy space twenty-eight feet long.
Only two of these can be seen at
full length at the opposite ends or
the table In the case of the others
the lower part of the body is MD
den by he table,
A dramatic end emotional interest
is given to the work by the fact that
the treacbery of Judas lscariot has
just been announced.
The great Goethe, who saw the PIC
ture a hundred years ago, wrote or
IL:
The exciting means which the ar
list employed TO agitate the Can1Sll
and holy supper table are the Mas
ter,s words There is one amongst
you that betcays me, The words
are spoken. and the entire company
falls into CONSERVATION; but He in
cIines His head With doWncast looks;
the whole attitude, the motion of the
arms. the hands and everything re-
peat with heavenly resignation which
the silence itself confirms, Verify YER
lily. there is one amongst you that
petrays me.
Before going any further we must