The Convent of San Marco was founded in 1299 by Silvestrine monks, with ownership being transferred to the friars of the Dominican order in 1418 at the command of Pope Eugenius IV. When the Silvestrines were ousted, they ransacked the building, leaving it in need of many repairs and furniture replacements. Brunelleschi’s student Michelozzo di Bartolomeo took on this job in 1437, commissioned by Cosimo de’ Medici as part of a greater effort to increase the Medici family’s patronage in the city through different commissions and architectural projects. During the restoration, Michelozzo constructed an upper floor of monastic cells, two cloisters, two refectories, and a library. In 1869, the convent was restored again and reopened as a museum.

The refectory of San Marco, which would have functioned as a guest room in the convent, houses one of Domenico Ghirlandaio’s Last Supper frescoes, dated around 1480. Although it seems unlikely that the Medici family commissioned this fresco in the same manner that they commissioned the reconstruction of the convent, Lorenzo de’ Medici most likely did play a role in the selection of Ghirlandaio for the job, as he had recommended him for various other projects in Santa Maria Novella and the Sistine Chapel. Unlike the other frescoes, the San Marco Last Supper covers the entire wall on which it is painted, giving the illusion of a continuation of space from the refectory into the fresco. Because of its placement in the refectory, the fresco would have been seen mainly by members of the outside community rather than the actual monks of the convent. This being so, a personal message from Christ is conveyed directly to the viewer. Laymen who view the image are addressed directly by Christ, being instructed to live in His footsteps and promoting personal contemplation and introspection. 

Ghirlandaio completed this fresco during Savonarola’s rise to power in Florence, and the effects of Savonarola’s rule can be seen in the way Ghirlandaio chose to paint this work. Savonarola was known to be adamantly opposed to lavish or sumptuous qualities in religious art, arguing that art should be used only for instructive or miracle-working purposes. Thus, in contrast with the rest of Ghirlandaio’s work, this fresco appears more subdued and less decorative or ornamental.

-AD