Giorgio Vasari’s The Last Supper, a striking wooden panel painting that was virtually destroyed in Florence’s 1966 flood, has received a grant by fashion firm Prada, which restorers hope will allow them to return the work to the public.
At the opening of a new store in Florence, the fashion company donated an undisclosed amount of funding to the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, one of Italy’s most distinguished restoration workshops. The grant will be spent on paying wages to restorers for the next two years to complete the work on the 1546 painting.
Head of public relations and communications for the Prada Group, Stefano Cantino, commented, ‘Contributing towards the restoration of Vasari’s work is a mark of our affection for Florence.’
2010 funding to the tune of more than 400,000 dollars from the Los Angeles Getty Foundation helped restorers to repair the painting’s poplar panels, joining them together again for the first time since 1966.
It is hoped that the restoration will be finished by 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of the flood.
