Milan’s Winter Olympics crowds looking for a glimpse of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” were met with a closed door and redirected foot traffic as the landmark shut its doors to the public for 3 1/2 days, leaving some travelers stranded outside the police cordon leading to Santa Maria delle Grazie.
The painting, created between 1494 and 1498 by the Italian Renaissance artist, is located on a wall inside the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a church and Dominican convent still used by friars. For many visitors, the work is both a major art destination and a religious stop.
A sign outside the Il Cenacolo Vinciano display area said access to the landmark would be closed all day on Feb. 5, 6 and 7, and the morning of Feb. 8, without giving any reason. Staff members told an Associated Press reporter they were not authorized to provide information.
Some tourists said the timing interfered with weekend plans. Antonio Rodríguez, who traveled from Spain with friends, said they would have no other chance to see the painting or the adjacent church since they only traveled for the weekend. “We didn’t know we would face this,” Rodríguez said, adding that he had no plans to attend events related to the Games and that they would have gone somewhere else in the city.
Saturday’s access rules added to the frustration for people waiting beyond the cordon. According to a statement from the vice president’s office, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his family were among those allowed in despite the general restrictions, visiting the morning after he met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and attended the Games’ opening ceremony. The statement said Vance visited a day after those meetings and that his trip included a stop at the painting.
Vance’s office said Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 and has said the change brought him a sense of spiritual fulfillment. It also said he visited Rome and Vatican City during Holy Week last year and was among the last world leaders to meet Pope Francis before the pope’s passing, and that Vance and Pope Francis sat down together on Easter Sunday after a long-distance tangle over the Trump administration’s migrant deportation plans.
In addition to Vance, foreign delegations visited The Last Supper and the Brera Art Gallery in recent days, including those of China, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, Angelo Crespi said in a statement. “We interpret our role responsibly, not only in terms of tourism but also in terms of international relations,” Crespi said.
Local disruptions also spilled beyond the walls of the religious site. Traffic in the area surrounding Santa Maria delle Grazie was diverted on Saturday, and people walking nearby said public transportation was disrupted as well. “The trams were changed without any notice,” said Fedeli Gioia, adding that the area was blocked because of access for someone visiting Il Cenacolo.
The Last Supper itself is preserved under strict conservation conditions. Instead of creating a fresco, which would allow paint to absorb into plaster, Leonardo used a dry technique that made the work more vulnerable to deterioration. Environmental damage and repeated restoration attempts altered its appearance, and the mural later suffered deterioration after it was used as a stable during the late 1700s French occupation of Milan and after Allied bombing struck the Santa Maria delle Grazie complex in 1943 during World War II.
Modern visits, according to the report, last about 15 minutes for a maximum of 40 people at a time, with temperature and humidity strictly controlled. The mural depicts the moment after Jesus tells his apostles: “One of you will betray me,” with Jesus at the center and the apostles arranged in four groups of three figures.
The painting has also resurfaced in modern popular culture during recent Olympic ceremonies. In the Paris Olympics opening ceremony in 2024, a scene evoked The Last Supper and included DJ Barbara Butch—an LGBTQ+ icon—wearing a silver headdress resembling a halo while flanked by drag artists and dancers. France’s Catholic bishops said the scene mocked Christian symbolism, and the Vatican said it “deplored the offense” caused to Christians.
With access limited, some visitors said they could only look from afar. A group of Japanese tourists on Saturday photographed the church from a distance and listened to a guide’s explanation in the middle of the street. Luisa Castro, a Filipina who has lived in Milan for 20 years, said she was hoping to visit Santa Maria delle Grazie with friends but could not enter after seeing the vice president come to see the painting. “We are Catholics from the Philippines and we seldom have time to visit a church like this,” she said. “Unfortunately, the vice president of America came to see the Last Supper and we could not enter.”
Associated Press writers Colleen Barry and Michelle Price in Milan contributed to this report.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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