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Carlo Braccesco, called da Milano (1286)
Fresco torn and arranged on wooden boards, 593 x 325 cm
Painting Section, Large Format Room (inv. no. MSA 65)
Convent of St. Mary of Peace, Genoa, destroyed in 1905
Fresco decoration
This monumental fresco is by this very talented Milanese artist who was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, it was completed around 1497. Braccesco’s is one of the first reflections on Leonardo's work, with some differences; Leonardo painted tapestries on the side walls, while Braccesco represented windows to justify the natural light that entered the refectory of the convent of Santa Maria della Pace, in which the work was located. Also note the basin of the Holy Grail in front of Jesus, which is the same as that seen in St. Lawrence's Treasure Museum in Genoa. The artist inserts a precise reference to the famous relic present in the city, the first example of a motif later taken up in Genoese painting of later centuries. The fresco was severely damaged due to its rapid removal, before the church was destroyed (early 1900s).