Da Vinci copyright infringement?

[answerpleaze]

Is Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper copyrighted or public domain. Can I use a photo of his painting on a product box that will be sold internationally?

[dzug]

The painting itself is probably not subject to copyright.

However the photograph you use will be someone's copyright so you will need the photographer's permission. If you took it yourself you presumably had permission from the gallery where it hangs - that permission will have been subject to conditions one of which I am sure will say something about publishing the photograph.

[Gmcd01]

A copyright only lasts from the death of the author + 70 years. It cannot be copyrighted by anyone else as in the circumstances, no one else has creative rights or a good claim to it. Of course, the above point is true in relation to the actual photo that is subject to copyright.

[Buenchico]

". . . the gallery where it hangs"?

Dzug is possibly the greatest of all contributors to AB and he provides hundreds of helpful accurate answers. It seems, however, that art history isn't his strong point ;-)

The Last Supper is a giant mural on a wall of Milan's Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. It's likely that the convent holds the reproduction rights to the work. However, it's also likely that some of the photo libraries, which hold images of the mural, will be licensed by the convent to sell the rights for the use of their photographs.

One way or the other, though, it's almost certain that anyone who wishes to use the image, for commercial purposes, will have to pay handsomely to do so.

Chris