Leonardo and the Last Supper: A Biography of Da Vinci's Masterpiece

The biography of the masterpiece that changed the history of art In 1495, while experiencing a period of professional insecurity and financial hardship, Leonardo da Vinci prepared to begin what would become one of the most influential works of art in history: The Last Supper—a complex, 15-by-20-foot mural that would take three years to complete. Not only had da Vinci never painted such a large area, but he also had no experience with fresco painting, a physically exhausting method. In Leonardo and the Last Supper, Ross King provides a detailed account of da Vinci's last five years in Milan. Amidst the war and political and religious turmoil that surrounded him, and tormented by his own uncertainties and frustrations, Leonardo created the masterpiece that would define him forever.