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Artists of the Italian Renaissance

Cenacolo della Calza

(Convento e Chiesa di San Giusto della Calza, Firenze)

link to other Florence Last Suppers

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Cenacolo della Calza - Piazza della Calza 6 (on the left behind Porto Romano) - Last Supper (1514) by Franciabigio (aka Francesco di Cristoforo Bigi 1482 - 1525),  as close as Florence gets to Leonardo's famous, overtouristed and very deteriorated last supper in Milan (da Vinci Code fans please note). 

In the 1300s there was a hospital / convent here run by the Dames of Malta.  They commissioned the Last Supper fresco, but then sadly had to leave their home as a result of the 1529 siege of Florence.  They were replaced by Jesuits who changed the dedication of the church from S. Giovanni (alla Porta di San Pier Gattolino) to San Giusto.  The "calza" came from the white hood worn by the Jesuit lay bretheren.

The whole monastery complex has now been converted into a meeting centre, with state of the art conference rooms,  residential and restaurant facilities.  If you smile nicely at the receptionist, she will unlock the door to the refectory, which is reached via a large, quiet and attractive cloister (with a mini Louvre glass pyramid look alike in the middle).

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