Milan Mayor Speaks Out Against "Last Supper" Light Show

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Italian authorities initially gave the 65-year-old avant-garde director permission to go forward with the installation, limiting it to a single performance on June 9. But now Milan's mayor, Letizia Moratti, has spoken against the show, voicing concerns that projecting light onto the extremely fragile 15th-century work could cause irreparable damage. (According to observers, Greenaway's appropriation of explicit images such as Christ's genitalia and naked crucifixion from other Renaissance artworks was also unlikely to win the favor of Milan's conservative mayor.) However, a scientific committee in charge of preserving the painting has determined that the work would not be adversely affected by the show.

Considered one of the greatest paintings in the history of western art, the Last Supper was completed in 1498 in the city's Santa Maria delle Grazie church and is known for its realistic depiction of Christ and his 12 apostles. 

Greenaway's project was backed by Professor Martin Kemp of Oxford University, who suggested that da Vinci would have appreciated the attempt to invigorate his work with new techniques. Milan art critic Fabio Vassallo said that though he did not understand the technical objections, he considered the light show "a bit superfluous and presumptuous."

"The painting's rather good as it is," he said.