ShareThisBy HELAINE FENDELMAN and JOE ROSSON
Monday, October 23, 2006
DEAR HELAINE AND JOE: My husband remembers this picture hanging in his grandparents home when he was a boy. We figure it to be about 75 to 100 years old. Do you think it has any value? Thank you. _ J. M., Romeoville, Ill.
DEAR J. M.: The "Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci is certainly one of the most famous and recognizable paintings on the entire planet. The image seen in this giant painting _ it measures 15 by 29 feet _ is taken from the Gospel of St. John Chapter 13 verse 21 in which Jesus announces to his disciples that one of them will betray him.
Leonardo executed this massive work between 1495 and 1498 in the refectory, or dining hall, of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, which is located in Milan, Italy. Depictions of the "Last Supper" were often painted on refectory walls of religious establishments for mealtime inspiration, and many artists besides Leonardo painted this subject.
Many people assume that Leonardo's "Last Supper" is a fresco _ or a painting done on fresh, moist plaster _ but it is not. For this work, Leonardo decided to try something new and painted it on a dry wall. He sealed the wall with a mixture of pitch, gesso and mastic and then painted on this with tempera.
Unfortunately, this did not work very well, and within two decades of its completion, the painting had started to flake off the wall. Less than 60 years after its completion, Giorgio Varari, Leonardo's biographer, declared the painting to be ruined and the piece so deteriorated that the figures were unrecognizable. Today, frantic efforts are still underway to save this all but doomed masterpiece.
The print seen in the frame in today's question is based on Leonardo's "Last Supper," but it is not anywhere near an exact copy. The similarities are striking. The three windows at the back are derived from Leonardo's work, as are the ceiling and the numerous openings along the side walls. But after this, the dissimilarities begin to outweigh the similarities.
First of all, in 1652 a door was cut through the wall on which the original was painted. This destroyed the central portion of the painting underneath the figure of Christ from the bottom of the tablecloth to the floor. However, in the print belonging to J. M. this area is shown intact with trestles bracketing the feet of Christ.
Also, in the print in today's question, the trestles supporting the table are depicted somewhat differently than they are in the original. The figures depicted in the more modern picture are in a style that is very late 19th/early 20th century as opposed to the figures in the original that are Renaissance in nature.
The various hand gestures in the picture belonging to J. M are also different from the original and the items on the table are similar but not matching. The frame on J. M.'s piece is the type we see quite commonly on pictures from the early 20th century, and we find many a photograph of World War I doughboys in this style of frame.
We feel this piece is circa 1910, but images based on Leonardo's "Last Supper" from this time period (1910 plus or minus 25 years) are very commonly found.
Religious pictures of this type do not command a great deal of money and if this one is a good size and in good condition, the insurance replacement value is about $75 to $100.
(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of the "Price It Yourself" (HarperResource, $19.95). Questions can be mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.)
