Michelangelo vs. Leonardo Da Vinci
Michelangelo vs. Leonardo da Vinci ART 101 Art Appreciation August 15, 2011 The works of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo influenced the art of the 16th century in Italy and Europe in many ways. Three of Michelangelo’s works such as: The Last Judgment, Pieta, and David were great works during his time. Leonardo da Vinci also contributed great works to the 15st century such as: The Last Supper, St. James in the Wilderness, and The Mona Lisa.
Although there were some similarities in Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo’s works, their differences and uniqueness is what made their works great masterpieces of the 15th and 16th century. Michelangelo’s Last Judgment was painted between 1536 and 1541. During this time, the Catholic Church was being attacked for the images it chose to use. After being attacked by its use of images, the churches came to an agreement on what images should look like. They agreed that images should be visually and theologically clear so that it could instruct believers.
Artists during this time had to comply with the standards that were set forth by the church. With all of the uproar going on about the arts and its focus, Michelangelo decided to create The Last Judgment which portrayed a visual depiction of the controversies that were going on at that time. Michelangelo’s painting, the Last Judgment, is displayed in the Sistine Chapel above the altar. The Central Figure of the Last Judgment was Christ, who was surrounded by nude figures. The picture depicted how Christ controlled the destiny of the spirits that surrounded Him.
Because of the vivid imagination and the images Michelangelo used to define the differences between salvation and damnation, many artists indicated that Michelangelo was feeling sexual guilt Michelangelo’s David was a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture that was created between 1501 and 1504. David was a marble statue of a naked man, which represented the Biblical hero, David. This statue was originally supposed to stand along the roofline of the east end of the Florence Cathedral, but instead is located in the public square outside the Palazzo Della Signoria, the seat of civic government in Florence.
Because of the facial features portrayed on the face of the statue of David, it is suggested that Michelangelo sculpted David to portray him after his decision to fight Goliath was made but not before the actual battle took place. Michelangelo kept the Renaissance practice of keeping its subjects in a calm position, by depicting David’s action before the battle in his statue. A winter known as Giorgio Vasari, stated that Michelangelo’s e works excelled “all ancient and modern statues, whether Greek or Latin, that have ever existed. Michelangelo’s work, David, was very atypical in that the statue was unusually large and slender. By the 20th century, Michelangelo’s David had become iconic shorthand for culture with endless reproductions. Another one of Michelangelo’s Renaissance masterpieces known as Pieta was created between 1498 and 1499. This masterpiece was displayed in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. The Pieta depicts the Virgin Mary holding the body of her son, Jesus Christ after His crucifixion. Like Michelangelo’s famous sculpture David, his masterpiece Pieta has also been re-created many times by other painters and sculptors.
Michelangelo was in his early twenties when he was commissioned to sculpt Pieta. Michelangelo’s Pieta was different from any other sculpture like this because he portrayed the Virgin Mary as a young, serene mother holding her son rather than an older and broken hearted woman holding her dead son. Michelangelo never signed any of his works of art or sculptures until the unveiling of Pieta, when he overheard a group of artists giving praise to other artists of his time for the same sculpture. Michelangelo allowed his anger to get the best of him and proceeded to carve his name on the sculpture of Pieta.
Leonardo da Vinci’s St. Jerome in the Wilderness was painted in 1480 but was never finished by Leonardo da Vinci. This painting resides in the Vatican Museum in Rome. In this painting, St. Jerome is living as a hermit in the Syrian Desert. Seated at St. Jerome’s feet is a lion who was considered to be his companion. This painting is famous because of its oblique trapezoid form. A second well known painting of Leonardo is The Last Supper. This mural painting was painted in the 15th century during the years of 1495-1498.
This painting is located in the dining hall at the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. This painting portrayed how the apostles acted when Jesus revealed to them that one of them would betray Him. The angles and lighting in the painting draws attention to Jesus. Many aspects of his paintings relates to Eastern expression such as Judas knocking the salt shaker over at the dinner table. In Eastern expression, this represents betraying one’s Master. A third painting and one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous and celebrated works of all time is The Mona Lisa.
This painting was created between the years of 1503 and 1519. There has been much speculation about who the model was for this painting. It has been noted that possibly, The Mona Lisa, was named for Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. There were also some suggestions that Gian Capotti was the model for the painting as well. Many believed that Gian Giacoma Caprotti was not only Leonardo da Vinci’s apprentice but also his lover as well. Like all of Leonardo da Vinci’s works, The Mona Lisa was not completed.
When creating The Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci used a pyramid design. The woman’s folded arms formed the front corner of the pyramid. Michelangelo’s works of art focuses solely on the action of human creatures. The issues of mortality and personal salvation were central to the artist’s later art and particularly to his poetry. Leonardo da Vinci focused on human behavior, birds in flight, and dust. Being that the 16th century was an intellectual and social era, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo transformed the art world during this time.
Both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo intended on complying with the rules set forth by the church. So they kept in mind that the church wanted images that were visually and theologically clear so that they could instruct believers. Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci influenced the art of the 16th century in Italy and Europe by creating some of the greatest masterpieces that ever existed. Michelangelo introduced new ways of painting and sculpting to the art world. He excelled as a sculptor, poet, and painter.
Michelangelo felt as is beauty was Divine and was one mode of communication God chose in order to communicate with man. His works were all of grandeur nature and very powerful. His works also brought a sense of new power, beauty, and expression of humanity that had never been seen before in any other artist’s work. Michelangelo’s paintings always had meaning and symbolized greatness in God and man. He is considered to be a giant in High Renaissance because he took art to a new and higher level.
Because of Michelangelo’s daring and bold works of art, the 16th century art world was a more dominating era than any other time. Leonardo da Vinci influenced the art of the 16th century in Italy and Europe by also creating some great masterpieces. Leonardo da Vinci is seen as the genius of the High Renaissance “polymath. ” He brought his mastery in the use of light and dark in his art in the 16th century. Leonardo brought great formal composition, perspective, and expression of humanity and divinity to his works.
Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci paved the way for new artists to search within themselves in order to reach their highest potential and began to paint and sculpt with more heart, soul, and risks. They also introduced the idea of combining science, math, geometry, beauty, and human nature into their works of art. References Gillgren, P. (2011). Siting Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in a Multimedia Context: Art, Music and Ceremony in the Sistine Chapel. Konsthistorisk Tidskrift, 80(2), 65. Retrieved August 1, 2011 from Research Library. Kleiner, F. S. (2010).
Gardner’s art through the ages: The western perspective. Volume II (13thEd. ). Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Pesta, D. (2011). Michelangelo and the art of letter writing. Choice, 48(11), 2101-2102. Retrieved August 1, 2011 from Research Library. Walsh, Meg Nottingham. (1994, May). Out of the darkness: Michelangelo’s Last Judgment. National Geographic, 185(5), 102-123. Retrieved August 15, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 7168128). Leonardo’s Incessant Last Supper (2002). The Virginia Quarterly Review, 78(1), A32. Retrieved August 15, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 105700082).
