MILAN (AP) — Tourists to Milan precise thru the Winter Olympics hoping to lunge attempting to get Leonardo da Vinci’s “ The Last Supper” devour been in for an unwelcome surprise: Entry to the masterpiece is closed to the public for 3 1/2 days.
The painting, created between 1494 and 1498 by the Italian Renaissance artist, is located on a wall contained in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a church and Dominican convent mild worn by friars. It is miles a vital enchantment for appreciators of artwork and spiritual Catholics alike.
Tourists caught at the police cordon down the boulevard main to Santa Maria delle Grazie devour been disappointed. Antonio Rodríguez, who traveled from Spain with company, mentioned they’d don’t devour every other likelihood to lunge attempting to get the painting nor the adjacent church since they most attention-grabbing traveled for the weekend.
“We didn’t know we would face this,” mentioned Rodríguez, including he had no plans to support events connected to the Video games. “We would devour long gone in other places in the metropolis.”
A ticket on the wall start air Il Cenacolo Vinciano mentioned that bag entry to to the landmark would be closed all day on Feb. 5, 6 and 7, and the morning of Feb. 8, without giving any arrangement. Workers there advised a reporter from The Associated Press they devour been now not authorized to construct any files.
VIPs mild allowed in on Saturday
Unbeknownst to frustrated visitors, more than one groups of VIPs devour been exempt from the constraints on Saturday.
Among them devour been U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his household, in step with an announcement from the vp’s workplace. They visited the morning after he met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and attended the Video games’ opening ceremony.
Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019, which he has mentioned brought him a mode of spiritual fulfillment. He visited Rome and Vatican City precise thru Holy Week final year, and used to be amongst the final world leaders to meet Pope Francis sooner than his passing. They sat down together on Easter Sunday after a protracted-distance tangle over the Trump administration’s migrant deportation plans.
To boot to Vance, many international delegations devour visited The Last Supper and the Brera Art Gallery in most up-to-date days, including those of China, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, Angelo Crespi, the director of Grande Brera that oversees each and every establishments, mentioned in an announcement.
“We account for our position responsibly, now not most attention-grabbing in phrases of tourism however also in phrases of worldwide relatives,” he mentioned.
Visitors in the apartment surrounding the spiritual space on Saturday used to be diverted. People walking alongside nearby streets mentioned public transportation used to be disrupted, besides.
“The trams devour been modified with none leer,” mentioned Fedeli Gioia. “This total house is blocked on legend of someone goes to lunge attempting to get Il Cenacolo? And the establish does that lunge away us residents?”
A painting that — with care and success — has survived for hundreds of years
The Last Supper — described by well-known creator Giorgio Vasari as “an beautiful and marvelous voice” in his writings — is preserved below strict conservation conditions.
Fairly than developing a fresco that can maybe devour allowed the paint to be absorbed by plaster, Leonardo worn a dry arrangement that made it far more liable to deterioration. Environmental hurt and repeated restoration attempts altered its appearance and triggered ongoing conservation efforts.
At the present time, visits final about quarter-hour for a maximum amount of 40 contributors at a time and temperature and humidity are strictly managed.
Leonardo’s painting depicts the moment after Jesus tells his apostles: “One amongst you are going to betray me.” The scene’s composition has had other interpretations by old artists, however Leonardo reinterpreted it, inserting Jesus at the guts and arranging the apostles in four groups of three figures.
Aside from conservation concerns derived from the dry arrangement worn by Leonardo, the mural suffered deterioration when the refectory housing it used to be worn as a proper in the behind 1700s precise thru the French occupation of Milan by Napoleon’s troops. Later, it used to be severely broken when Allied bombing struck the Santa Maria delle Grazie advanced in 1943 precise thru World Struggle II.
It made a controversial appearance, of kinds, in the Paris Olympics in 2024. A scene in the outlet ceremony evoked the painting, and incorporated DJ Barbara Butch — an LGBTQ+ icon — carrying a silver headdress akin to a halo while flanked by scoot artists and dancers.
France’s Catholic bishops mentioned it mocked Christian symbolism, and the Vatican mentioned it “deplored the offense” triggered to Christians by the scene.
Tourists look from afar
A crew of Eastern vacationers used to be amongst the would-be visitors in the support of the police cordon on Saturday. They photographed the church from a distance and listened to a manual’s rationalization in the guts of the boulevard.
Luisa Castro, a Filipina who has lived in Milan for twenty years, used to be hoping to visit Santa Maria delle Grazie with company.
“We’re Catholics from the Philippines and we seldom devour time to visit a church worship this,” she mentioned. “Unfortunately, the vp of The US got here to lunge attempting to get the Last Supper and lets now not enter.”
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Associated Press writers Colleen Barry and Michelle Label in Milan contributed to this report.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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Associated Press religion coverage receives relieve thru the AP’s collaboration with The Dialog US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is fully accountable for this direct material.
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