Last month, Jen and I took a break from our daily routine and traveled to Italy to visit our son Joshua, who is an Army officer stationed there.
It was a great to visit him and see what his world is like. It was also fun to get a taste (literally) of Italy, though we only saw a small portion of the country.
In addition to spending a day in Venice and a few days in Florence, where we saw Michelangelo’s famous statue of David, Jen and I also took a day trip to Milan, where we experienced a very informative walking tour through parts of the city that included seeing the Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral) as well as the famous DaVinci masterpiece “The Last Supper”.
I have to admit that the Last Supper was not exactly what I expected. It looked a little different than all the photos you see. It turns out that there’s a reason for that.
Our guide explained that when DaVinci was commissioned to make the painting, he decided against the tried and true traditional Fresco style of painting, which creates a permanent image because the painting is all done in wet plaster.
The downside of this technique is that you have to paint very quickly before the plaster dries. DaVinci wanted to take his time and create a painting with more intricate detail than the fresco technique would allow, so he developed a completely new technique that allowed him to take his time.
The result was an undisputed masterpiece. However, it became more clear, over time, that DaVinci’s novel new technique was flawed, as parts of the painting literally began to flake away from the wall.
To fix this problem, other painters were often called in to fill in the gaps and “restore” those portions to match copies that demonstrated the original image.
Fast forward hundreds of years and the image on the wall has been painted over dozens of times. The original image is actually lost as many of the finer details, such as facial expressions, don’t look exactly as Leonardo had painted them.
In 1977, it was decided that the painting would go through a restoration process whereby all the extra layers of paint would be removed so that the image that remained would be only what Leonardo had painted. It was risky because they weren’t sure if ANYTHING would be left when they removed all the layers.
Fortunately, there was still plenty of Leonardo’s original image still intact when all of the extraneous layers were removed. At that point, what was left underwent an extensive 25 year restoration process to ensure that the image would not experience further decay. In fact, our guide told us that Leonardo’s masterpiece should remain intact for another 500 years!
What remains is still amazing but it is not exactly the original. There are parts that have faded or flaked away. We have a good idea of what the original looked like based on copies that were created when it was more complete.
I think the Last Supper illustrates the human condition. The Bible tells us that we are God’s masterpiece, but it also says that we’re broken because of sin.
Just as the Last Supper was in a constant state of decay, so too are we. Without outside intervention, the Last Supper was doomed to decay into, at best, a muted reflection of the original masterpiece and at worst, nothingness!
The same is true with us. Without God’s intervention, we have no hope of reflecting the true masterpiece that God says we are. And even in this life, the best we can hope for is a muted, partial reflection of God’s artistry.
The Last Supper will never be restored to the original image that Leonardo painted. But we, as believers, have the hope and assurance that one day, we will experience the final restoration of our bodies and our souls. Sin will be eradicated and we will no longer experience death or decay!
THAT is good news and it’s amazing!
Thank you for your partnership with us, which allows us to help others realize that we are all “masterpieces” in need of restoration!
Arrivederci!
The Lowedown 