but laid out or had done of of them the failed the question project and the 2 small portraits was the production of plays and masks for the entertainment of the joke in his court was he truly going to be given this monumental fresco but laid out a was in effect a special effects man for the duke and so i guess we would think of him as a sort of a combination set designer costume designer and special effects person for these spectaculars that lot of a cord have staged maybe a couple of times a year in the lion. that is why the lunar know was determined that with this fresco he was going to stomach the moment. and they probably would have been expecting that he would have done a last supper akin to all of those that have been done primarily in florence in tuscany sienna for the previous 200 years but of course he did something quite

different that archetype showed christ breaking bread thus establishing the 1st eucharist but like a skilled film director leonardo picked a far more dramatic see the moment when jesus the players that one of the men in the room is a traitor. that news literally explodes from the center and hits the apostles in various poses of shock disbelief sorrow even anger the full panoply of human emotions is laid bare the same idea that had galvanized his adoration of the manager some 25 years earlier. in order wanted action and then he also wanted the emotion and the dramatic intensity of what happened in in those seconds in jerusalem and that of course is one of the magnificent things

about the painting that he brings that to life and we see that and instantly i think we can understand what's happening there is that hold for techs of human drama that's right where everyone is react. definitely the rasping each other there's incredulity there's disbelief there's anger there is in the cases of the light st john who just appears to be coming awake and there's being interrogated by st peter and so he does he takes each of each of these 12 and gives them. some characteristics some you know with facial expression hand gestures things like that in order to take us into the character but here is the great tragedy most of these beautiful expressions are no longer visible today but i sentimental is not because . i knew the press because i. wanted to trick upon a technique because you had an end up the town that added a feisty book question the next plotted out was not us you want to said especially

don't add an ascended into. unlike want of fun or who used conventional fresco techniques leonardo could not resist experimenting with his pick means to try to create the same optical effects that he pioneered with his aural paintings the result was catastrophic. i think the thing that's so interesting about him is that he's got different intellectual interests and so he's trying to achieve different goals with paint and he's asking different questions of them larry keith is the head of conservation and keeper at london's national gallery but also i think he really was ensured and exploring. nuances of total british and all those kinds of distinctions that i think are really not possible to achieve in france.

in 1517 influential cardinal named luigi dada go on and his secretary and tonio debate about this went on a tour and among others visited the convent in milan to see the last supper. as the reactors would write. it is most excellent although it is beginning to decay either because of the down the civil war all some of the fall of the clicked. in the centuries since the 1st go continue to deteriorate because it was a joining a kitchen so all the moisture was trapped in the wall in the end there's really no way to know what leonarda great masterpiece looked like. or is there. long before until neo to visit another even more distinguished visitor came to

milan with an army into this was the newly crowned king of france louis to 12. just one year after his elevation the king marched on long to claim the city as his home. and what was the 1st thing that king louis did after he set himself up here in the castello 4th so the answer is in the book written by leonardo as 1st biographer george of us are. as for sorry says the king when on a visit he went to see the last supper. it was deeply pressed by the excellence of this picture both in composition and execution and convinced that he should take it back to his kingdom so he tried to find an architect who could build a framework of wood and i am to safely transport the fresco back to france with no

regard for expense so much to he want to have it. but since it was painted on a wall his majesty could not have visions as such. but kings aren't used to being told what they cannot have and so louis decided on an even bigger gambit but for that he needed léonard of himself at least that's our theory. even though leonardo was in milan he was wanted back in florence to finish another francisco the battle of and beyond and the whole of the $500.00 of the lots of donna seniority so he wasn't in a position to stay in milan and do whatever the king had in mind for him but then something extraordinary something that changed everything. this is the arche view adela's thought of the feet hands of the state archives of

florence with documents that go back over a 1000 years and here we found a truly remarkable letter with a letter at the elysian to call it a chase him up early leslie if you don't think india to question authority should be gentle najar me little question to say it then here is a letter from the french king himself king louis to 12 to the gun following year to the president of the french republic to signoria asking as we have need of must lay a lot of pain to the city of florence and want to make him do something by his own hand we beg you to kindly let it all work for us for a period of time and to carry out the work we tend here to do. i think it's becoming clear what the french king once lived in order to do if he can have the fresh school itself he will have the next best thing

a copy on canvas that he can take back to friends. and what's interesting about is that the king doesn't tell the signoria what he would like him to do he is very cagey about the king doesn't say how long because if our theory is correct and he wants leonardo to make a copy of the last supper that would take. a very long time indeed. the idea of such a live sized copy was not far fetched later nardo was arguably one of the 1st painters in history who used his studio to make copies of his own works for sale such as divergent of the rocks painted with his associate umbrella joe depleted he's. the madonna of the yarn winder possibly painted with his pupil francesco spaniel the saint m. painted with his assistant mel c.

and of course the mona lisa painted by his pupil and close companion solomon. that was a good reason for that here in the sometime an aeon of l.a. and that i had a large studio with lots of assistance but he worked very slowly and it's difficult to maintain a large studio when you have a very limited output but it's not so hard if you use your best assistants to make copies of your works for sale under the master's supervision of course so what happened to this copy of the last supper. who painted it and doesn't still exist there's only one way to find out and that is to go to france.

today we think of paris as the world's epicenter of our culture and fashion this is where the world comes for beauty and refinement but in the 16th century things were very different. people sometimes forget that but in the middle ages it was actually burgundy. which dictated french culture not just an art but also in poetry and music and then came to spur of the black plague and the 100 years war in which joan of arc would play such an important part. somebody and so on the way the 12th came to the throne france was

a mere shadow of its former self and louis was very much aware that. he knew that french artists needed to take their cue from the italian renaissance and i think that's why he was so incredibly keen to get the last software into french. but if that's true and if a live size copy of the last supper was actually made where did it go the answer i think may be hidden behind these walls this is the shuttle digger which once served as the residence of just dumb wads. does the west was the most important member besides of a king with a twist a sort of prime minister with guns on the line to fight that was us both with us diction. like his master king louis dumb ones was deeply smitten with the

beauty of italian art he decided he wanted to build a shuttle that was entirely in the renaissance time the 1st one in friends and so he brought back scores of italian artists and masons to do just that. if you take enough just one 5th the scope of this unfold from your self and if you like and restaurants and various like. the people of new of the beach you came here yeah and what do you do lots of things to degrade are you shocked that one of the most beautiful of the cities and you reinforce. the fact that. one of leo knows leading pupils was working in this chateau around 1509 may be the missing piece of the possible. unfortunately the chapel and much of the shuttle were destroyed in the french

revolution and the term world of fall of one work that andrea painted for the shadow still exists a deposition from the cross which today hangs in the. central florida what we know of him is that he was from a family of artists we think he was probably was in balance in a period when you know out of his very 1st in line so he wasn't there with him right from the beginning and around 49 to 5 public came back from venice to mine with his brother christopher which is of course exactly the moment when they're not is beginning to work on the last supper for s.k. . if that's true then celerity 0 must have been present as the great fresco of the last supper took shape on the refectory wall and since he was one of lay on our toes most talented pupils could he have been the one who painted the copy for the french king in the archives of the chateau we find

a key piece of evidence an inventory of all property including printers from the 1540 s. one of these paintings is no sin fact antoine ongoing persona the film will say your feast opportunity to be like a lance supper on canvas with monumental figures which is grace had brought over from alone. could this be our 1st hard piece of evidence of a live size copy of the last supper on go all pass on ours with monumental figures . put this together with what we know that andreas alarie was in guy old in 1509 and that pieces begin to fall into place. there is little doubt that solaria was a favorite of the gun was family and $15007.00 even painted

a portrait of george his nephew charlotte dumb ones charlotte was none other than the governor of milan at that time but given the short time frame in which the copy was finished between 15071509 business likely does not only sell lottery 0 but also other leonardo pupils were involved including for example jump. but here's the next question where is this campus after all if it's as big as we think it is it's not something you would lose very easily. and that's why we find ourselves on the train to antwerp in belgium to follow the next trail of closures. we usually think of and for prez the city of rubens painter of the baroque but even

in the early renaissance and for was a very important city primarily because it served as the major port of the low countries. but things started to change in the early 16th century primarily as a result of the growing tensions between the protestant north and the catholic south which ultimately produced the 80 years war. this is when the catholic church looked for every which way to defend the faith in the low countries and founded in this epic the abbey of total. you know what i think is so interesting is that dutch calvinism rejected all forms of religious imagery paintings sculpture even stained glass it was all torn down and destroyed i think that's why the abbot of total world was sighted he

should get the biggest painting of christ and his apostles he could find to deter the north and give a boost to the catholic faithful in the sun. reportedly this painting needs to exist in the small chapel on the grounds of this very calm. oh my god there it is. yes the same thing we've been looking for all these weeks. it is magnificent. so the painting was brought to bear and just in that specific moment the abbot

of tongue good little. has asked somebody to look after the beautiful great. painting religion space for the new abbey church he wrote a letter to the abbot. he discussed the last supper of leonardo da vinci was sold on the 2nd of february in 5845 the painting was actually presented and sold. a product of blue not a living painted by leo a lot of the while it was in those days it was not that important but probably. 90 percent of the painting as the work of. the disciples be opal sell for chia tell me about this theory of who painted christ and seen just well. you know but i believe. lady who has been restoring for 22 years the origin of

fresco in milan. she said disses a work of a goof. off fuel pupils disciples of da vinci but she said i'm convinced that christ is and especially also the apostle of sin john your favorite model of i think she has been painted by himself well a lot of them yeah. mine is that it's here but it's a quality the quality of your when you look at a painting you see that in john this. is a very nice it's exceptional quality and very very about i day also made. some 20 years ago. there are under a gag hostel sketch of us exact same john christ you're telling me that there

are there is an under drawing under all of the apostles yeah except for john and cross that is painted directly on the cameras that was that his own stuff. of the x. rays that is an astonishing discovery. so we might conclude that even though the apostles may have been painted by his pupils and looting perhaps andreas a larry that lay not to himself hated christ and since the most important figures on the last supper priya and a so it's they both to painting ass a work. that's fascinating it's fantasy it is a beautiful work but is this the painting that king louis de 12th ordered from leonardo in 1507 and that 100 or so are you brought to friends and 1509. fortunately the abbey has an extensive hard time going back many hundreds of years

and here we find in this eyewitness account. that 4 sayings of course hunt and julie just said that the painting is made after an original painted on the wall that is now in bad past. what the king of france will call good bella saul the painting he was very disappointed that he could not take it with him since it was painted a whole wall and so he gave the order to have a copy made and that's the copy that hangs in the quiet today so what we have here is an eyewitness document from the 16th century that confirms our theory that louis did 12 order a copy of the last supper from leonardo da vinci and the. this painting now hangs on the wall of this beautiful abbey in belgium.

but then the plot thickens once more as we saw such a large scampers could not have been painted by just one artist such a small time frame so who would have painted on the bend and various a lhari o. the most likely candidate is an italian artist called jump you team for as we will discover in london he went on to make a 2nd copy. for 250 years the wall academy of burlington house in london there's been training generations of british artists by drawing inspiration from the work of the great masters. so we're sitting here in the library which very much relates to the training all the artists these were all what we call bacterial for artists to inspire them for them to look at when did the world academy acquire the copy of the

last supper and why did they acquire so it was 820 won the academy bullshit the 600 guineas which then was a lot of money as a sort of comparison in a few 20 the national got a report every old titian just over $300.00 pounds so to spend $600.00 pounds on what was a copy was an immense amount of money so they had to gather all the artists together they will have to vote on it and agree that this is a good purchase it was this extraordinary example of leonardo's work i mean it's a copy i think it was seen as a real window into the sort of achievements of leonardo and to have in the schools for the artist the students to look at was with an amazing isn't it funny or not it refers to a jam packed we think is probably the same person. we know that a figure more or less of this name is working in milan from at least around 1507

so in that 2nd period after leonardo has been back to florence and has then returned to milan and would you agree that he's probably one of the principal or at least on the copy of the world yes so that's very much the current line of thinking although trimaran has recently going back to the technical drawings underpinning this work and due to technical analysis of the underlings of the work has asserted that in fact it's probably all traffic is hand initially and then jumper trainer coming in as a secondary hand. if it's true that jump you 3 know worked on both the turn all over asia and then later around $1520.00 on this copy it would seem that between these 2 paintings we would have a very accurate sense of what the original fresco once looked like. i think the scale of it is it does appear to be very very close to the original and

certainly heads that we can investigate further seemed to be very trace the original book traffic and champ train off if we had access to the an art is drawing with cartoon and i think it's possibly evidence that there may have been 7 pricking out all tracing all you know from these original cartoon so you know this is really interesting that the basis may be kind of even closer than we originally thought. not that we found not one but 2 live sized versions of the last supper by layer nardo and his top pupils do we have long last have a key to see what the fresco and milan truly looked like. the last supper a painting that would go on to transform the course of western art could anyone in the 49 years have been through separated the tremendous impact that this fresco

would have he would have been told by the lot of eco and the trier of sentimental look at c 2 or last supper and they probably would have expected that he would have done the last supper they came to all of those that have been done primarily in florence in tuscany scieno for the previous 200 years later of course did not work like night and he did say that the way to make a painting was not to look at other paintings it was to look at real life and so i think what he wanted to do and why he thought libel was 5 the drama in this story was almost like he. was the director of a film and he was given a brief this is the film you're going to make it would make a film of the last supper. wanted action and he also wanted the emotion and the dramatic intensity of what happened in those seconds in jerusalem and that of course is one of the magnificent things about the painting that he brings that to life and we see that and instantly i think we can understand what's happening there

3 paintings and yet one vision a vision of the picturing the most familiar scene from the gospels in a way that had never been done before. and now we know what that original vision once looked like thanks to a canvas and a remote convent in belgium of course in the years to come the high renaissance would produce some of the most memorable frescoes in history including raphael stuns and the vatican and michelangelo's immortal ceiling of the sistine chapel but all that incredible realism all that monumental grasp of the human figure 1st started with a fresh go on the wall of a factory in the long. welcome

to the city of the future. instead of a permanent traffic jam. would instead of concrete. in those villages instead of air pollution. new concepts for the mega-cities tough tomorrow. made in germany. 30 minutes on d w entered the conflict zone the government knows sri lanka has been strongly criticized

the un human rights council which wound amended to the raging situation in the country and the increase marginalize ation of minorities my guest this week is john up column a you've said could you just remind us foreign ministry physics any chance of these dumb enough to take the criticism seriously i'm still something about the conflict so for. 90 minutes on t.w. . the times are good for the. former. drug of the most well but yet. the industry is controlling your

thoughts the great books of the 20th century. present day hoaxes. upgraded. manufacturing you know it's stores may 3rd to double. this is deja vu news and these are all top stories u.s. president joe biden has unveiled an infrastructure plan worth 2 trillion dollars the spending package will help repair roads and bridges as well as improve the quality of drinking water by then said the can will also creates jobs and help tackle the climate crisis.