Cenacolo di Fuligno (Fuligno Museum: "Last Supper" fresco), Florence

The "Last Supper" fresco by Pietro Perugino, is the centerpiece of the refectory, now museum, of the former Convent of Fuligno, which originally had housed Clarissan nuns since 1419. The fresco was "discovered" and open to the public in the 19th century. Initially credited to Raphael – a student of Perugino, whose early style bears striking resemblance, it was later recognized as a creation by Perugino himself.

The remarkable piece depicts Jesus and the apostles at a horseshoe-shaped table, seated on a continuous bench with the back upholstered in green. The exception, as usual, is Judas Iscariot, who is on the other side of the table, painted (from behind) semi-turned towards the viewer. The inscriptions on the wooden step, at the base of the table, indicate those present (from the left), namely: James the Lesser; Philip; James the Greater; Andrew; Peter; Jesus; John; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Thaddeus (aka Judas of James or Judas Lebbeo, not to be confused with Judas Iscariot).

The floor has a geometric squared design in white and pink marble taken from the tablets of San Bernardino, also an early work by Perugino. The scheme recalls Ghirlandaio's "Last Supper of San Marco" (1486), with the scene set around a U-shaped table and the landscape opening of the room beyond the back. The upper part of the painting features a vast loggia resembling real architecture of the refectory, as if breaking through the wall, where you can see three spans of round arches supported by pillars with grotesques; while in the background there is a vast natural landscape, in which the scene of the prayer takes place, in the garden of Gethsemane. Typical of the artist are the slender little trees dotting the hills and the landscape fading towards the horizon in blue tones, due to the haze.

Great harmony transpires from the relationships between figures and setting, and each element here attracts the viewer towards the escape of the landscape opening in the center. In the frame, which imitates an ancient marble motif, also in keeping with the Florentine tradition, are some tondi with portraits of saints.

Tip:
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