From Eataly a million euros for the `environmental restoration´ of Leonardo da Vinci's cenacle

One million euros: this is the contribution that Eataly, the food company led by Oscar Farinetti, will provide to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage for the"environmental restoration" project (so in the statement) of Leonardo da Vinci ’s Last Supper in Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. The work, one of the most fragile but also one of the most celebrated in the history of art (with a consequent flow of visitors: about 400,000 a year), will be equipped with a system that will inject about 10,000 cubic meters of new clean air daily into the environment that houses the famous Last Supper, as opposed to the current 3,500: this could therefore increase the number of visitors that the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie is able to accommodate.

Work is scheduled to be completed in 2019, and the restoration project is designed to extend the life of the painting and allow more people to appreciate it. In addition to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the CNR, the Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro (ISCR), the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Milano-Bicocca will participate in the project. Eataly will help spread awareness of the work’s fragility with the campaign Una cena così non si può perdere: “it cannot be missed,” reads the statement released by the company, “because we cannot afford to give up a masterpiece that everyone envies us, but also because anyone should go and see it for themselves.”

The restoration, Minister Franceschini told the press organs at the presentation of the project, “is taking place with public resources and with a commitment from the private sector, a sign that a step forward has been taken even in areas where in Italy we are furthest behind. It is a signal that must be given to the country, I hope many will imitate Farinetti. Through innovation we will allow more travelers to see the wonder of Leonardo’s Last Supper.”

Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Last Supper (1494-1498; tempera on plaster, 460 x 880 cm; Milan, Santa Maria delle Grazie)

From Eataly a million euros for the `environmental restoration´ of Leonardo da Vinci's cenacle

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