The Last Supper depicts 13 figures, including Jesus and the Twelve Apostles.
Leonardo da Vinci shows the biblical meal at the moment Jesus announces that one of the apostles will betray him. The apostles are arranged in four groups of three, with Jesus isolated at the center to emphasize his importance and the drama of the announcement.
The number can be confused with the twelve apostles alone, which excludes Jesus. It can also be confused with other artistic versions of the Last Supper, some of which include additional servants or figures. Leonardo’s mural follows the familiar Christian composition of Christ surrounded by his twelve disciples.
Leonardo painted the mural between about 1495 and 1498 for the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. It is not a conventional fresco: his experimental technique contributed to the painting’s early deterioration and the need for repeated conservation.