Which artwork do you most long to see during lockdown?

This was the question the Observer’s art critic, Laura Cumming, recently posed on Twitter.

Choosing one is difficult. I miss visiting galleries. I enjoy the way art transports me somewhere else, sets me off on a random train of thought and triggers ideas.

My answer is a painting that had a profound impact on the way I experience art. It was seeing a Leonardo da Vinci fresco on a wall in an old refectory.

The Last Supper is in the former Dominica convent of Santa Maria Della Grazie in Milan. It has a whole wall to itself. The room has only one other painting. You have to have a guide (mine spoke Italian. I don’t speak Italian). You can only see it with a maximum of 24 other people for 15 minutes.

This is what made it so special. While the guide spoke to the 24 other people, I stood apart; free of distractions and captivated.

My eye slowly wandered around the painting. Appreciating the perfect composition and the symmetrical balance of each element. Deciphering the narrative and the facial expressions of each figure. I had the time for my eyes to linger and my mind to take in the genius of Leonardo da Vinci.

This is slow art and we need more of it. Time to be still, to concentrate on one thing and to absorb some of its meaning.