 Goethe wrote that in 1800, the room was flooded with two feet of water after a heavy rainstorm.The refectory was used as a prison; it is not known if any of the prisoners may have damaged the painting.In 1821, Stefano Barezzi, an expert in removing whole frescoes from their walls intact, was called in to remove the painting to a safer location; he badly damaged the center section before realizing that Leonardo's work was not a fresco.