Léon Gérard (French, 1817-1896)
1857-1861
Drawing of Christ from Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"

Albumen silver print, from paper negative
36.3 x 26.6 cm (14 5/16 x 10 1/2 in.) (image) 59.2 x 42.6 cm (23 5/16 x 16 3/4 in.) (mount)
 
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gilman Collection, Purchase, Denise and Andrew Saul Gift, 2005, Accession Number: 2005.100.51
 
This ethereal photograph records a much reworked drawing on paper formerly attributed to the Renaissance master Leonardo (now in the Brera Gallery, Milan) and related to the iconic figure of Christ in the artist's Last Supper fresco (1495-98). Gérard made the photograph during an excursion through the Loire and Rhine valleys, Switzerland, and northern Italy between 1857 and 1861. He had previously traveled to Rome and Naples in the company of fellow painter and photographer Firmin-Eugène Le Dien.
 
LL/98820