A Memorable Excursion

During the days of FIT (Frontiers of Information Technology) Tour back in december 2012, me and a fellow member Umar set up to explore Sarena Hotel Islamabad. We moved through corridors, elevators, lawns, gymnasiums, different floors and bar clubs, taking pictures of each other and things placed for the comfort and pleasure of the visitors. While wandering there, we came across an Art Gallery which was located inside the Hotel and was a place of amusement for the Art Lovers. We stepped inside it. Founding nobody inside the Gallery, I started to take pictures of the monuments and the portraits that were hanged on the wall. As soon as I took  the second snapshot, an aged person of about 50 years stepped inside the gallery roaring at me that: "Don't you know its not allowed to take pictures inside a gallery? What you have done. People took snapshots of these master pieces and then make copies of it" I got confused and replied in a sense that I knew that I have done something wrong: "Sorry Sir I didn't know ealier that  it is forbibben to take pictures inside a gallery." Saying Sorry again to him, we rushed out the gallery and tried to walk as fast as we could, just to get out of sight of that person. We reached into the lawn of the hotel laughing at each other upon the mistake that we have just made and the reward of that we received from the owner of the gallery.

                  The days passed and I got busy in my daily routine. One day while surfing the internet I came across the same picture of the portrait I took inside the gallery, I got curious and tried to find out more about that portrait. Upon little searching, I was wondered to see that the picture of the portrait I took was a world famous portrait. The portrait named “The Last Supper” was a portrait by an Italian Artist "Leonardo da Vinci".

About the Portrait

Leonardo's most famous painting of the 1490's is "The Last Supper", painted for the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. The painting represents the last meal shared by Jesus with his disciples before his capture and death. It shows specifically the moment when Jesus has just said: "One of you will betray me". Leonardo tells the story of the consternation that this statement caused to the twelve followers of Jesus.

      When finished, the painting was acclaimed as a masterpiece of design and characterization. But it deteriorated rapidly, so that within a hundred years it was described by one viewer as "completely ruined". Leonardo, instead of using the reliable technique of fresco, had used tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso, resulting in a surface which was subject to mold and to flaking. Despite this, the painting has remained one of the most reproduced works of art, countless copies being made in every medium from carpets to cameos.

I was pleased to see that the snap I captured and for which I endured the unpleasant and harsh words of the owner of the gallery was a master piece. I forgot about what actually happened while capturing the portrait. The feeling of happiness of knowing to capture a historical masterpiece overcame the feeling of suffering in the gallery.