Friday, March 28, 2014

The Archetypal Renaissance Man Contenders

By Darren Hartley


Among the Michelangelo paintings are two of the most influential works in fresco in Western art history. These are the scenes from Genesis on the Sistine chapel ceiling and the Last Judgment on the Sistine Chapel altar wall in Rome. These works are renowned inspite of Michelangelo's low opinion of painting.

Aside from his Michelangelo paintings, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simon is also famous for his two sculptures, namely, the Pieta and the David. These sculptures were made before this Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet and engineer turned thirty.

Michelangelo also revolutionized classical architecture. He accomplished this by using plaster as the main ingredient when he designed the dome for St. Peter's Basilica. Like the Sistine chapel, this basilica can also be found in Rome.

The Michelangelo sketches are among the earliest of Michelangelo paintings. The volume of these surviving sketches, together with correspondences and reminiscences, make Michelangelo the best documented artist from the 16th century.

Michelangelo's versatility in the disciplines of the highest order lead him to be often considered for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with his fellow Italian and rival, Leonardo da Vinci. This versatility Michelangelo acquired despite his making only a few forays beyond the arts. The Renaissance man is a man whose seemingly infinite curiosity was equalled only by his inventive powers.

Among the most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portrait and religious paintings of all time are the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, two Da Vinci paintings and the Creation of Adam, one of many Michelangelo paintings. They occupy that unique position in the art world.

Considered as an Italian polymath, Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was best known for his Da Vinci paintings. A polymath was a person who has been a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer in the span of his lifetime.

The Vitruvian Man drawing is among the iconic Da Vinci paintings. Unfortunately, the number of surviving Da Vinci paintings is very minimal, pegged at 15. This low survival rate has been attributed to Leonardo's constant and often times disastrous experimentation with new methods. His chronic procrastination of his works was also a contributing factor.

Despite their low number, these surviving Da Vinci paintings are contributions to later artist generations. These contributions are aided by Leonardo's notebooks that house drawings, scientific diagrams and personal thoughts on the art of painting. Again, this set of contributions is only rivalled by the set from his chief contemporary rival, Michelangelo.

It was after studying in the studio of a renowned Florentine painter, that the earlier Da Vinci paintings came to life. The painter we owed this debt to is Verrocchio.




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