Last Supper
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Authors
Andrea da Saronno (sculpting) and Alberto da Lodi (painting and gilding)
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Last Supper , Jesus , Passion , Christ
Alternative Title
Abstract
These painted wood life-sized sculptures form a theatrical tableau in a chapel in the Sanctuary of the Beata Maria Verdine dei Miracoli in Saronno. The group has suffered from a series of "restorations" over the centuries, starting already in the sixteenth-century. The chapel was moved, destroying the original frescoes by Bernardo Luini and Cesare Magni that formed backdrops for the scene. The rebuilt chapel with its large altar was smaller than the original, and so Christ and the Apostles could no longer be placed at one long table, but instead are disposed along three tables, arranged in a U-shape. The canvases currently displayed behind the figures were made by Camillo Procaccini in 1598. Other restorations followed two different lightning strikes, both of which damaged the roof of the chapel and even left traces of carbon on the statues. In the eighteenth century, before repainting the figures yet again, a "restorer" applied caustic substances to the surfaces of the sculptures, to help his new paint adhere better, thus destroying parts of the original surfaces. Another repainting campaign came in 1871-2. The works were restored in 1994-6, at which time later repaint was removed to reveal the original surface where possible. If the original surface had been too irreparably damaged, the eighteenth-century repaint was left. The surfaces with azzurite (a particularly fragile pigment, not adhering well to the wood) were left, so as not to lose the colour all together. The technique of the surviving original polychromy by Alberto da Lodi is quite sophisticated, with a use layers and mixtures of such pigments as red lake, azzurite, and malachite to achieve subtle effects. The flesh tones are variagated to emphasize the facial expressions, and the hair and beards are gilded with a sgraffito technique (colour painted over gold leaf, with the highlights for strands of hair then scratched through the layer of pigment, revealing a streak of the gold underneath). The textiles worn by the figures also have rich and complex gold designs. The scene is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting of the Last Supper, in nearby Milan. Leonardo sowed the moment of Christ's dramatic announcement to his tight band of followers: "One among you will betray me!" Young St. John the Evangleist faints, while others gesticulate passionately, in intense discussion and self-questioning about who the traitor could be. Only Judas sits back quietly, not needing to question, because he knows his guilt. The sculptor Andrea da Saronno, working three decades later (1530-4), made a three-dimensional version of Leonardo's dramatic scene, mimicking closely the gestures and poses of individual figures. He did not, however, arrange his figures in tight groups of three, as Leonardo did (except for the Lone figure of Jesus as the stil centre), but sculpted each figure separately. (Of course, the statues could have been originally spaced differently, but it would not be possible to intertwine them in tight knots, as Leonardo's figures are). Leonardo's idea of bringing the scene to new, dramatic life and making the viewer feel present at a key moment is enacted here in a different, more tactile medium, that of naturalistic polychrome sculptures, a limit case in terms of realism. Andrea da Saronno carved the sculptures out of poplar, each one formed from one trunk, hollowed out at the back (with the opening covered if it would be visible) and then added extra pieces of wood (with nails and any cracks covered with glue soaked cloth) when needed for projecting hands, feet, etc. The wood was covered with fine layers of gesso and animal glue before painting and gilding. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Description
Santuario della Beata Maria Vergine dei Miracoli, Saronno
Citation
Maria Luisa Gatti Perer, Il Santuario della Beata Vergine dei Miracoli di Saronno (Saronno: Istituto per la Storia dell'Arte Lombarda/Parrocchia della Beata Vergine dei Miracoli, 1996), 169-80, 188, 189-92, 203-5; Raffaele Casciaro, La scultura lignea lombarda del Rinascimento (Milan: Skira, 2000), 231, cat. 152, pp. 355-6.