On Tuesday, after an early start and a long train ride, we arrived in Milan. With help from a tour guide, we explored the Milan Duomo, the third largest church in the world.
The Milan Duomo
Inside of the Milan Duomo
We also got to see Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper. It was especially exciting to have the chance to see the painting after our tour guide told us how fragile it was. She said that because Da Vinci didn’t paint it as a fresco, it is extremely vulnerable to the elements. We had to go into a special room to be cleaned so that we wouldn’t damage the painting. But all the buildup was definitely worth it when we got to see The Last Supper - it was especially interesting to be able to compare it to other Last Supper paintings, since we had already seen two in Florence. Our day in Milan helped me get a better sense of how the Latin that we study and the ancient texts we translate still relate to the world today. Although Milan seems at first glance to be a very modern city with lots of skyscrapers and billboards, it also has many links to the ancient world. We got to see an example of this when we walked past a modern street with a balcony looking down onto an ancient ruin.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper