Survival Against the Odds

The mural has outlasted vandalism, neglect, and repeated rescue attempts. Eighteenth-century restorers repainted large sections in oil, burying Leonardo's delicate work beneath crude approximations of his technique.

Its narrowest escape came in August 1943, when Allied bombing tore through the refectory, collapsing the roof and vaults and bringing down two of its walls along with part of a third. The wall bearing The Last Supper was the one left standing, shielded by the sandbags and scaffolding Italian authorities had stacked around it years before in anticipation of the attack. It then stood exposed to the weather for months before the roof could be rebuilt.