On Saturday we spent most of the day exploring the city, as we had less free time to do so on Sunday. Our first stop was the Santa Maria delle Grazie, which houses Da Vinci's famous painting of the Last Supper.
I had always assumed that the painting was framed and in some museum, but it turned out that it is a massive 15 ft x 29 ft mural on a wall in a monastery. It was very impressive to see in person, but apparently the painting has required a significant amount of restoration given the medium involved.
We spent the next couple of hours visiting a number of churches in the city, including Saint Ambrose and St. Maurice. I liked the latter, in particular, given the beautiful paintings throughout the interior.
Next we visited the Duomo, whose construction began in 1386 and took roughly six centuries to finish. We unfortunately didn't make it up to the walkway on the roof, but it was still pretty impressive to see from the ground level.
As seen in the picture below, the dark interior contrasted heavily with the white marble exterior. I particularly liked the large paintings that hung between the many columns.
Following a late risotto lunch, we spent the balance of the afternoon shopping. And, for once, it turned out to be me who was actually doing the shopping. After five years of wearing the same suits, an upgrade was long overdue. And thanks to Emilie, I found two nice ones.
While heading back to the hotel afterwards, we stopped at a museum to see a special exhibition of some of paintings by the French artist George de la Tour. My favorite was St. Joseph, which was on loan from the Louvre and demonstrates the artist's mastery of the depiction of light within a dark setting.
And here's a photo of La Scala, which we passed by after leaving the museum. It was nice to finally see the famed opera house after hearing so much about in preparation for the trip.
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