Vienna - Snow Madonna Italian National Church Minoritenkirche

Must-see attractions nearby: St Stephen's Cathedral Schönbrunn Palace Belvedere Palaces (Austrian Galleries) Imperial Palace Karlskirche Natural History Museum Vienna State Opera

Of particular architectural interest is the Gothic main portal, designed by Duke Albrecht's confessor, Father Jacobus in 1340-45. Inside can be seen Giacomo Raffaelli's copy in mosaic of Leonardo da Vinci's famous "Last Supper". It was commissioned by Napoleon I, who wanted to take the Milan original to Paris and replace it with the Vienna copy. After Napoleon's fall the Austrian court agreed to purchase the copy at a cost of 400,000 guilders. In 1845 it finally returned to the Minoritenkirche. The picture above the High Altar by Chr. Unterberger is also a copy; the original "Snow Madonna" is an object of veneration in the Esquiline in Rome.