Leonardo began painting The Last Supper in 1495.
The mural was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, for the refectory of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Leonardo worked on it from about 1495 to 1498, although he did not paint continuously. The convent’s surviving records are incomplete, so 1495 is generally treated as the approximate beginning rather than an exact documented day.
Leonardo’s slow, experimental working habits contributed to the extended schedule. A record from 1497 indicates that the painting was already nearly finished, and it was completed by 1498. The long process also reflected his desire to revise faces, gestures, lighting, and the complex arrangement of the apostles.
The date is sometimes confused with 1498, the approximate completion year, or with 1497, when the mural was reportedly close to finished. The painting’s creation belongs to the late 15th-century Milanese period of Leonardo’s career, under Sforza patronage.