Considered in the 19th century one of the most important and famous works by Giuseppe Diotti, it constitutes a powerful visual-historical archetype of the Italian-Lombard identity of that century, an identity that found a strong point in the age of Ludovico il Moro (end of the 15th century) and in the extraordinary presence in Milan of Leonardo da Vinci.
Diotti painted this picture in 1823, commissioned by Count Giacomo Mellerio for his Villa del Gernetto, in Brianza. The artist and the commissioner were evidently in tune in the realization of the great painting conceived as a game of mirrors between the depicted era and the contemporary one.
In order to realize a work so attentive to the physiognomies of the characters, to the colors and the costumes, as well as to the architectural setting, Diotti drew on a plurality of iconographic sources, resorting also to the advice of his learned friends.
But let us see in detail who the main characters of the scene are: on the left, a page opens the door to the Secretary of State Bartolomeo Calco to let him enter the room where the court of Ludovico il Moro is gathered. The main action sees Leonardo da Vinci showing the drawing for the Last Supper to the duke who had commissioned the project. Seated next to the duke are his wife Beatrice d'Este and his brother, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, while around them, in addition to Leonardo, we can recognize the great personalities from the world of culture and the arts who were regular visitors to the Milanese court: on the left, the architect Bramante speaks with the mathematician Frate Luca Pacioli, while behind Leonardo are the musician Franchino Gaffurio (reading music), the poet Bernardo Bellincioni (crowned with laurel) and the historian Bernardino Corio (carrying a book of the "History of Milan" under his arm).
In some cases, where he did not have reliable iconographic sources, Diotti gave the likenesses of his friends to the characters of the past: the Bergamasks Agostino Salvioni and Simone Mayr were in fact portrayed respectively in the guise of the historian Bernardino Corio and the composer Franchino Gaffurio.
Loan from Municipality of Lodi - Civic Museum
