The Last Supper

by Sharon Plant

At 42 years old, Leonardo da Vinci is Milan's renaissance ideal: popular, creative and influential. His artwork is exemplary, though he frequently leaves paintings unfinished. His notebooks indicate the mechanical inventiveness and scientific enquiry of the age, though this encourages him to conduct rash technical experiments. When the ruling Sforza family commissions Leonardo to paint The Last Supper in the refectory of a monastery, news about the fresco spreads fast, and townspeople flock to present themselves to the celebrated artist as possible sitters for the apostles. Friends of Vittorio Dessa urge him to put himself forward for the role of Christ. He is reluctant, but wouldn't Francesca be proud of him.

316 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005