In 1978 Italian authorities closed the doors on the masterpiece and let restorer Pinin Brambilla Barcilon begin what would become a 21-year, $7.7 million, centimeter-by-centimeter rehabilitation involving electronic microscopes, water-base paint and a neutral beige to fill in totally unretrievable areas. Last Friday the doors reopened, and the public rushed in to see whether the result was the Renaissance reborn–or the Old Master equivalent of Pamela Anderson. The experts’ verdict: split down the middle, with the now embattled Culture Minister Giovanna Melandri and Brambilla celebrating the brighter, fresher Leonardo, and a bevy of foreign critics saying that any connection to da Vinci’s handiwork had been forfeited to “an original Brambilla.” Public judgment will take a little longer; in the upgraded refectory–where a filtration system and “air walls” will prevent even dandruff flakes from reaching “The Last Supper”–viewers will be admitted only 25 at a time. By the time there’s a public consensus on the restoration, “The Last Supper” will probably need another.
