A joint venture by Olivetti, Polaroid, and Queen Elizabeth II is not something one could have anticipated, but when the object of attention is Leonardo’s Last Supper, the cooperation is not difficult to understand. That painting is so undeniably an elemental rock of culture that even those observers who might otherwise suspect self-interest in a project of this sort are likely to accept the homage as sincere. The result, at any rate, could be seen recently at the National Gallery of Art in an exhibition entitled “Leonardo’s Last Supper: Before and After,” which features photographs of the recent restoration of the Last Supper and Leonardo’s preparatory sketches for the painting.[1]

Olivetti was the first to become involved in the project, by financing the current work being done on the painting: Behind its decision, I presume, is the figure of Carlo Bertelli, the art historian whose job includes official responsibility for the painting, along with the rest of government-owned cultural property in Milan. Bertelli has won exceptional respect from his peers for the energy, not to mention the intelligence, of his approach to the enormous problems that face him. Thus a visitor to Milan’s main museum, the Brera, is not only shown its treasures on the walls but also lesser pictures stored on racks (and viewed through glass partitions) and paintings in the process of restoration, laid out on tables with explanatory labels that include even figures on cost. These kinds of displays not only appeal to