Paolo Ondarza – Vatican

Mystery and mystery, like a halo around Leonardo da Vinci, emerges from the interwoven silk threads used to make tapestries.

This is a cloth replica of the "Last Supper" painted by a renaissance genius on the wall of the dining room of the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. King Louis XII liked this painting so much that he proposed to dismantle it and transport it from Milan to Paris. However, this was still the dream of the French royal family until Francis I ascended the throne and decided to commission the painting to be transposed on fabric.

Although there are still some doubts about the identity of the client and the place and year of production, the date of the tapestry can definitely be determined to be some time between 1516 and 1524: Leonardo's stay in France. It is not ruled out that the artist may have seen it with his own eyes, but the assumption that he directly participated in the design of the cartoon seems to be unfounded. The difference between painting and tapestry immediately attracted attention. The minimalism and almost metaphysical atmosphere of the Last Supper of Santa Maria's Thanksgiving Day disappeared in the weaving works of the Vatican Museum, and you can see the landscape dominated by the ancient fortress.

Exquisite craftsmanship shows that Brussels is the place of production. All threads are made of gilded or silver-plated silk, depicting the image of apostles, as well as salamanders and wings, apparently referring to Francis I and his mother Louise of Savoy. The acronym woven into textiles, embedded in a sea of ​​symbols, implies that the king and his wife Claudia died in 1524. The intertwined knots are eye-catching. On the one hand, remember Leonardo’s "knot" or "relationship"; but on the other hand, it is an allusion to the Savoy family or the Franciscans.

In 1533, this huge tapestry was shipped to Rome, separated from the rich and outstanding collection of the King of France. On the occasion of the grand wedding of Catherine de Medici (the niece of the Pope) and Henry of Valois, the king's second son, in Marseille, Francis I personally gave it to Pope Clement VII. The chroniclers of the time described the unforgettable wedding in detail: after the Roman massacre in 1527, the wedding established an alliance between France and the Papal system, an anti-Habsburg move. The pope used the gilded whale horns of the famous goldsmith Tobia da Camerino to give back the tapestry tribute. This horn is called "unicorn horn", and according to ancient traditions, it is considered an effective antidote to protect people from food poisoning.

Leonardo’s "Last Supper" tapestry is kept in Floreria in the Vatican and used on special occasions in the Liturgical Year. During the Corpus Christi procession, it was hung on the road from the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's Basilica. On the contrary, on Holy Thursday, it was displayed on the walls of the Doge's Palace, and an evocative footwashing ceremony was performed at the same time.

Until today, this textile masterpiece has been in an excellent state of protection. In the 1700s, Pope Pius VI owned a copy made by painter Bernardino Nocchi. It was transformed into a tapestry by Felice Cettomai, then head of the Pope Saint Michel factory. From that moment on, this copy was used in papal ceremonies, thereby protecting the original from atmospheric elements.

The original Francis I tapestry has undergone many restorations. The last time was in 2019. Before going to France to participate in the exhibition, the tapestry was lined with nylon tulle, which was dyed by technicians in the tapestry and textile restoration laboratory.

This magnificent and exquisite "Last Supper" tapestry is 4.9 meters (16 feet) high and 9 meters (29.5 feet) long, making it difficult to move or "be moved". However, the experience, dedication and professionalism of the Vatican restoration workers is a guarantee, drawing on hundreds of years of knowledge and tradition. In fact, there are nearly 300 pieces of the Pope’s tapestry collection, dating back to the 1400s. From the beginning, the Pope entrusted the continuous care of these cultural relics to the "protectors" with foresight and pioneering methods of "cultural heritage".

"The Vatican Series", Alexandra Rudolph, curator of the Department of Tapestry and Textiles, recalled, "It exploded when Raphael designed a comic for an undisputed masterpiece that was later considered to be world-famous": Ten series of tapestries depicting scenes from the Acts of the Apostles were commissioned by Pope Leo X (De' Medici) and produced in the Flemish Studio of Pieter Van Aelst, who became the "Pope's Tapestry Manufacturer".

"Tapestry", she continued, "It is destined to complete the image plan of the Sistine Chapel that corresponds to the painted curtains on the lower part of the wall-on the ceiling is the episode of Genesis painted by Michelangelo; by more than 15th century The artist completed the middle wall covered by the story of Moses and Christ; the record below will depict the act of spreading Christianity through the two princes of the apostles Peter and Paul, and the universal trial drawn by Michelangelo later, completing this grand Narrative".

"Only by admiring them in the Sistine Chapel can you fully understand Raphael's tapestries." This is exactly what happened in the week of February 2020, ten masterpieces once again boarded the hook of the Magna chorus, thus refreshing the competition between Michelangelo and Rafael Sanzio and their ability to capture beauty. "When creating these tapestries," Alessandra Rodolfo continued, "They broke the norms of art." The transfer of Raphael's cartoons to Brussels had a profound impact on European culture in the 16th century. In that era, the art of tapestry making was considered more refined and superior than the art of painting. It actually represents a status symbol, a carrier of moving images: it can be moved, rolled up, and displayed indoors or outdoors, allowing the wider public-in many occasions and celebrations-to appreciate the The prestige of a pope.

Even the cost of tapestries is much higher than the cost of murals. Raphael’s tapestries are six times more expensive than Michelangelo’s frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. "The Pope", Alessandra Rodolfo (Alessandra Rodolfo) explained, "had to invest a lot of money and pay large sums of money in advance, so that he was very indebted. In order to repay Pope Leo X for staying after his death Under the huge debts, and to pay the Pope’s funeral, Raphael’s tapestries were used as collateral for the famous German banking and entrepreneur Fugger family.”

Manufacturing costs have also pushed up costs-firstly, dyeing threads with natural dyes. Some of these threads consist of a silk core covered with gold or silver foil beaten by a professional craftsman called battilori.

To understand the original beauty and brilliance of tapestries, one needs to observe them from behind, where the light has not faded over time. A professional tapestry manufacturer can produce about one square meter per month. In addition, this work began with an artist who was responsible for designing comics.

Tapestry is an extremely delicate work. It can be hung and can withstand the constant tension of the fabric. The work required to protect it is laborious and complicated: from dust removal, to wiping with a sponge, to washing in a large bathtub with ionized water and detergent recommended by the Scientific Research Cabinet of the Vatican Museum, to drying on a large grill. In the end, colored threads were used to repair the damaged areas. These threads were obtained by consulting more than a thousand recipes carefully kept in the notebooks of restoration workers in the Vatican.

Elements such as light and temperature suitable for protection must be carefully monitored. The tapestries are either kept on a sliding frame in the Vatican storage room, designed by Biagio Biagetti, the founder of the Vatican Restoration Laboratory in the 1930s, or rolled up and wrapped in white breathable sheets. In addition to a lot of time and patience, restoring the tapestry also requires a lot of economic resources. Imagine that the restoration of ten Raphael tapestries began in 1981 and was completed only a few years ago.

Heir to the Pope Tapestry Factory founded by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 and the older Saint-Michel Roman Tapestry Factory founded by Clement XI in 1711, the tapestry and textile restoration laboratory is history The first manufacturer of the restoration department of the museum had as many as seven women, three of whom were female religious figures. In 1926, Pope Pius XI entrusted these precious works of art to Mary’s Franciscan missionaries. Colored spools, antique looms that witnessed the ancient Vatican tapestry school, teamwork, hard work, patience, and great enthusiasm are woven together like a piece of cloth. In the charming room, tradition and innovative technology have a fruitful dialogue, so To ensure that one of the world’s most precious, fragile and unique heritage will be passed on to future generations.