The Last Supper

The Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio painted the Last Supper of Jesus three times, in separate fresco paintings in or near Florence. The oldest of the three is located in the Badia di Passignano (1476), next is the most famous one, painted in the refectory of the Convent of the Ognissanti (1480), and the last is at the Convent of San Marco (1486), the last two both in Florence itself. Locations, Subject, and Technique Locations There are three separate frescoes of the Last Supper that Ghirlandaio painted including one outside of Florence, Italy, while the other two were painted in the city of Florence. Two of Ghirlandaio's Last Supper frescoes were placed in convents in Florence: the Convent of San Marco and the Convent of Ognissanti. The Last Supper located outside of town was painted in the abbey of Badia di Passignano, a religious hermitage under the order of Vallombrosians, founded by Saint Giovanni Gualberto in the eleventh century. Over the years, the Passignano monastery was changed into a farmhouse in 1866, but was reconverted to its monastic function in 1986. All three of Ghirlandaio's frescos of the Last Supper were placed in the refectory, or main dining hall, where all of the nuns or monks of the convent or monastery would have eaten their meals. Subject In the late fifteenth century, artist Domenico Ghirlandaio painted three frescoes depicting the Last Supper between Jesus and his Apostles. Many artists have painted their own versions of the Christian subject of The Last Supper. The Last Supper is an important biblical story where Jesus and his disciples dine for the final time together before his death by crucifixion. At this supper, Jesus tells his followers, known as the twelve apostles, that his death is soon to come and that one of his disciples has betrayed him. In addition, this is the sacred meal at which Jesus introduces the sacrament of the Eucharist.