How to see the Last Supper

da Vinci's Last Supper - Il Cenacolo

One of our stops on a train trip across Central Europe later this summer will be in Milan, where I am excited to see da Vinci's masterpiece, The Last Supper or Il Cenacolo in Italian. Many people don't know that this is not a painting hanging in a museum - at least the original is not. It is a mural on the wall of a church, the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in Milan. It was painted there by Leonardo in the 1490s in the refectory, which is the dining hall where the monks would gather to share their meals. It's amazing to think about the simplicity of the idea to decorate a wall in the monk's cafeteria with a picture of the Bible's most famous meal. That wall is now a masterpiece and its image is one of the world's most recognizable works of art.

If you want to see the painting, you can't just show up at the church and hope for the best. It is very fragile and visitors are restricted to 30 visitors at a time who are allowed 15 minutes in the room. Tickets for this must be booked in advance and sell out quickly so if you want to see it, check the website for availability. The tickets are sold through what appears to be the Italian equivalent of Ticketmaster, called Viva Ticket. Here is a link directly to the Last Supper ticket page, which was a bit clumsy to find for this non-Italian speaker - https://cenacolovinciano.vivaticket.it/eng/event/cenacolo-vinciano/63954

On the site there is a "Buy" button that will show you an availability calendar, and some notes below it informing you of upcoming availability. We will be in Milan in early August and I've been checking the site for the last 6 weeks or so waiting for the dates to open up. when I first started checking the calendar only went through June - and every day was sold out. A few weeks ago a note appeared saying that on April 16th, reservations for July and August would be open. It didn't say at what time, but other sources online said that it opened at 9:30 am CET. So I set my alarm for 2:30 am US Central time to make sure I wouldn't miss my chance. I had no idea how quickly the door would slam shut. Well, it is now 6 am in Minnesota and our August date happens to still be available, but you can see here what July looks like just 3 1/2 hours after the tickets went on sale.

So if you will be in Milan and want to visit the Last Supper, check early and often! Here are a few other things to note:

• You will need to create an account at Vivaticket to be able to book. I recommend setting that up right away rather than waiting until you book - it will save you some steps and some precious time when you are trying to reserve your time.
• Time slots are limited - they do not run throughout the day. On the day we are there (a Tuesday in August) you can book for 8:45, 9:30, 1:45, and 4:00.
• Certain time slots include a guided tour and some are in English and some in Italian. Check on the site to see which is which. We are going at 9:30 am for an English-language tour. The tour costs an extra €3.50 per person, but worth it for me to have an expert talk about the painting and its history.
• The cost to visit is €12 for adults and there is a range of discounts for younger visitors, teachers, and others. Selecting the "free under 18" reservation option will cost you €2, which turns out to be an "advance sale" charge. This seems a little scammy to me as you need to book in advance to be able to see it - like I said, Italian equivalent of Ticketmaster! Here's the math for our family of 5:
• €24 for 2 adults
• €6 for 3 kids
• €17.50 for the guided tour for the 5 of us
• €47.50 total
• In an effort to prevent tour operators and re-sellers from snatching up tickets, there is a limit of 5 tickets per order, and you need to present a valid ID that matches the order when you arrive.

Good luck booking your tickets if you want to see this 500-year-old masterpiece when you visit Milan! I hope this helped you figure things out.