Provenance: Milan, Chapel of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Cenacle
Physical Dimensions: w120 x h111.5 cm
Painter, sculptor: Aldo Carpi
Description: The stained glass window depictions of the Gospel by Aldo Carpi were executed between 1957 and 1958 for the new Chapel of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Cenacle in Via Fratelli Gabba in Milan. Carpi inserted his work into the architecture of the chapel, which was built in 1954 and consists in a single room in the form of a semi-circle. Carpi fit the windows into the continuous band of light that defines the space between the walls of the semicircle and the ceiling. In the course of the day, sunlight illuminates the space of the chapel in different ways. Coming through the visual narrative of the windows, it seamlessly breaks into the new Last Super. Natural light becomes divine light in the visual thinking of the artist, who essentially transposes the Gospel of Luke, from the Annunciation to the Ascension. The glass band, which is slightly tapered at both ends, becomes a kaleidoscope of colored light that affects the quality of the interior space and is a form of catechetical teaching that is immediate and beautiful.
The window in question represents the Last Supper. The artist chooses to represent the intimate nature of the scene in order to emphasize the intensity of the feelings. The whole cycle, consisting of 29 stained glass windows, is now kept in storage.