On November 4, 1966, flood waters rushed through the city of Florence, Italy, destroying thousands of priceless artworks in museums and churches. Santa Croce Basilica became a leading symbol of this destruction, as water and mud engulfed the historic structure, severely damaging several treasured paintings, among them Giorgio Vasari’s monumental 1546 panel painting The Last Supper. Now, fifty years after the flood, Santa Croce welcomes The Last Supper back, newly conserved through an international collaboration between the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the Getty Foundation, Prada, and Protezione Civile. The structural conservation of the painting was funded by the Getty Foundation as part of its Panel Paintings Initiative, a program that was launched as a joint effort in 2008 between the Getty Foundation, Getty Conservation Institute, and J. Paul Getty Museum. The initiative advances the knowledge of current experts in panel paintings conservation and prepares a next generation of con...