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50 free The Last Supper trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper on a damp refectory wall in Milan using a technique that began failing within his own lifetime, and it has been flaking, flooded, shot at, bricked through and bombed ever since. This Last Supper trivia quiz covers the mural itself (who commissioned it, how the apostles are grouped, why Judas knocks over the salt, where the vanishing point sits), its four centuries of damage and restoration, and the copies, parodies and conspiracy theories it inspired from Dalí and Warhol to The Da Vinci Code. The last stretch turns to the meal the painting depicts: what the Gospels say, the institution of the Eucharist, the foot-washing in John, and the Cenacle on Mount Zion. Questions run from easy to expert, and every answer is verified and cited to its reference page. If you enjoy this quiz, try our other art history and Bible quizzes.
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Q 01Who painted The Last Supper in Milan in the 1490s?
Leonardo da Vinci
It is his largest work apart from the Sala delle Asse, and many see it as inaugurating the High Renaissance.
Q 02In which building is the mural housed?
Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie
It covers an end wall of the refectory; the opposite wall bears Montorfano's Crucifixion.
Q 03Which Gospel's account of the moment does the painting follow?
John
It captures the instant after Jesus announces that one of the apostles will betray him.
Q 04Who commissioned the painting?
Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan
He planned to turn the church into a family mausoleum; Sforza coats of arms fill the lunettes above the mural.
Q 05How large is The Last Supper?
460 cm x 880 cm
That is roughly 15 by 29 feet, covering the whole end wall of the dining hall.
Q 06In what medium did Leonardo paint the mural, instead of true fresco?
Tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic
He wanted to work slowly and revise, but the experimental method meant the paint began deteriorating almost at once.
Q 07In which year was the 21-year restoration led by Pinin Brambilla Barcilon completed?
1999
The project ran from 1978 to 1999; since then visitors must book ahead and are limited to 15-minute slots.
Q 08Whose face did Leonardo threaten to use for Judas if he could not find a suitably villainous model?
The complaining prior's
The prior had grumbled to Sforza about Leonardo's 'laziness' as he wandered Milan looking for a criminal to copy.
Q 09Which friend advised Leonardo to leave Christ's face unfinished?
Bernardo Zenale
He argued no face lovelier than those of the two Jameses could be imagined; Leonardo apparently agreed.
Q 10How are the twelve apostles arranged in the painting?
In four groups of three
The number three recurs: three windows behind Jesus, and his figure forms a triangle.
Q 11What is Judas shown tipping over on the table?
The salt cellar
The near-Eastern phrase 'to betray the salt' means to betray one's master; he also clutches a small money bag.
Q 12Which apostle appears to hold a knife, foreshadowing Gethsemane?
Peter
He leans toward John, prompting the beloved disciple to ask Jesus who the betrayer is.
Q 13Which apostle raises an index finger, foreshadowing his later doubt?
Thomas
He sits in the group with James the Greater, whose arms are flung up, and Philip, who seems to ask for an explanation.
How did most earlier painters mark Judas out from the other apostles?
Q 21What was cut through the bottom of the painting in 1652?
A doorway
Later bricked up, its arch shape is still visible; early copies suggest Jesus's feet were posed to foreshadow the crucifixion.
Q 22What did French revolutionary troops do to the painting in 1796?
Threw stones and scratched out the apostles' eyes
They used the refectory as an armoury and stable; it later served as a prison.
Q 23Which restorer badly damaged the centre in 1821 by trying to detach it as if it were a fresco?
Stefano Barezzi
Seating him alone across the table or without a halo
Leonardo instead kept everyone on one side of the table and let Judas lean back into shadow.
Q 15Where does the vanishing point of the painting's perspective lines fall?
Jesus's right cheek
The perspective and lighting draw the eye to Christ, and his downturned gaze leads along his arm to the bread.
Q 16What colours is the tablecloth, in the painting's only overt reference to the diners' Jewish identity?
White with blue stripes
The colours were commonly associated with the Jewish people.
Q 17Which mathematician friend called the work 'a symbol of man's burning desire for salvation'?
Luca Pacioli
Cardano, by contrast, described the fading painting in 1532 as 'blurred and colorless'.
Q 18Which pupil's near-full-size copy hangs in London's Royal Academy of Arts?
Giampietrino
Cesare da Sesto's copy is in Switzerland and Solari's is at Tongerlo Abbey in Belgium.
Q 19When was the painting completed?
9 February 1498
Deterioration set in soon after; by 1517 it was flaking and by 1556 Vasari called it a 'muddle of blots'.
Q 20Which French king considered removing the painting from its wall in 1499?
Louis XII
Napoleon later commissioned a life-size mosaic copy that stands in Vienna's Minoritenkirche.
An expert in moving whole frescoes, he only then realised Leonardo's work was tempera and tried to glue bits back.
Q 24How was the painting saved when Allied bombs hit the refectory in August 1943?
Protective sandbagging
The wall stood while much of the room was wrecked; vibration may still have caused damage.
Q 25How long did the major restoration led by Pinin Brambilla Barcilon take?
21 years
Windows were bricked up to seal the climate, and unrestorable areas were repainted in subdued watercolour.
Q 26How long may visitors stay in front of the painting?
15 minutes
Booking ahead is required to protect the sealed, climate-controlled refectory.
Q 27Which art historian and ArtWatch founder was a fierce critic of the 1999 restoration?
James Beck
ArtWatch UK's Michael Daley objected to Christ's right sleeve becoming 'muff-like drapery'.
Q 28Which artist painted The Sacrament of the Last Supper in 1955, with a blond, clean-shaven Jesus?
Salvador Dalí
It is among the most viewed works at Washington's National Gallery of Art.
Q 29Whose Last Supper series, shown in Milan in 1987, was his final body of work?
Andy Warhol
Dealer Alexander Iolas commissioned it shortly before the artist's death.
Q 30Which 1972 Mary Beth Edelson collage put O'Keeffe, Ono and others over Christ and the apostles?
Some Living American Women Artists
Mary Beth Edelson's image includes 82 women, among them Georgia O'Keeffe, Yoko Ono and Louise Bourgeois.