There’s a huge fountain in front of Sforza castle. It’s called the “Wedding Cake Fountain”, because when its plumes of water are turned on full blast, it resembles a wedding cake. It’s symbolic of the good times in Milan’s history. But as you know if you’ve been following along, the good times didn’t last forever.
Poor old Ludovico Sforza…. In better days, before he had gotten himself (and all of present-day northern Italy) into trouble, he and his beautiful wife Beatrice had been living the good life. They surrounded themselves with the elite artists and thinkers of the day. Ludovico and Leonardo da Vinci were good friends. Leonardo even resided at Sforza castle. How neat would it be to be pals with Leonardo da Vinci?
Ludovico had been spending lots of money on a church in Milan called Santa Maria delle Grazie. He wanted to have himself, Beatrice, and their descendants buried there on church grounds, or maybe even inside the church building.
In those days, the Church advised rich people that if they were buried on church grounds, when the time came to see Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates, they’d get a spot near the front of the line. Of course, this type of arrangement would be very, very expensive, eh?
Ludovico thought that if he could get his pal Leonardo da Vinci – already recognized as one of the great painters of his time – to paint a special picture for Santa Maria delle Grazie on his behalf, church leaders would surely let him have his way with his burial wishes.
Ludovico and Leonardo
One day Ludovico must have approached Leonardo and brought up the subject. We can imagine what the conversation might have been like, and practice our italiano at the same time…
Ludovico – “Ey! Leonardo! Hai del tempo libero? Voglio ti fare una domanda.”
(“Hey, Leonardo! Have you got a minute? I want to ask you a question.”)
Leonardo — “Certo, Ludovico mi amico – che cosa è?”
(“Certainly, Ludovico, my friend – what’s on your mind?”)
Ludovico – “Vorrei ti assumere da fare une bella pittura per la chiesa Santa Maria delle Grazie.”
(“I’d like to hire you to make a nice painting for Santa Maria delle Grazie church.”)
Leonardo — “No problemo. Che tipo di pittura vorrai?“
(“No problem. What kind of painting do you want?“)
Ludovico – “Vorrei qualcosa molto molto speciale.“
(“I would like something very very special.“)
Leonardo — “Hmmm… Cosa pensi dei angeli chi volano sul soffitto?”
(“Hmmm… how about some angels flying around on the ceiling?“)
Ludovico – “Hmmm… Penso che sia già abbastanza con i angeli! Diventano pochi noiosi dopo un po’. ”
(“Hmmm… Enough with the angels already! They get kind of old after awhile.”)
Leonardo — “Dove andrà la pittura dentro la chiesa?”
(“Well, where will the painting go inside the church?”)
Ludovico – “Nel refettorio, dove le suore e tutti prendono i pasti.”
(“In the refectory, where the nuns and everyone have their meals.”)
Basta con la Frutta!
Leonardo — “Hmmm… Ciò che una buona pittura della frutta?”
(“Hmmm… How about a nice still-life with some fruit?”)
Ludovico – “No. Basta con la frutta. È una chiesa — deve essere religiosa.”
(“Nah. No more fruit. It’s a church – it has to be religious.”)
Leonardo — “Mamma mia! L’ho io! Dipingerò la Cena Ultima!”
(“I’ve got it! I’ll paint the Last Supper!”)
Ludovico – “Perfetto! Leonardo, sei un genio! Ma deve essere molto
speciale.”
(“That’s perfect! Leonardo, you’re a genius! But it has to be very special.”)
Leonardo — “La farò molto grande, così coprirà un muro intero!”
(“I’ll make it really big, so it covers a whole wall!”)
Ludovico – “Che cosa sarebbe così bella!”
(“That would be so cool!”)
Leonardo — “Sarà fantastico!”
(“It’ll be awesome!”)
And so it came to pass that Ludovico Sforza hired Leonardo da Vinci to paint the now-famous Last Supper on one of the walls of the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Hey – that’s our next stop!
To be continued…
