Michelangelo and Da Vinci Influence in the 16th Century

Michelangelo and Da Vinci
Tonya Smith
Art 101: Art Appreciation
Instructor Elia Haggar
May 27, 2013

Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo Bunonarroti were considered to be amazing painter of their time. Although their work has many similarities they had different views. I am going to discuss the difference in the work that was produced from both Leonardo and Michelangelo during the 16th century and the influence it had on Italy and Europe. Throughout history these two artist have paid tribute and in some ways and had an impact of the way some people live today. Leonard DaVinci was born in the Italian town of Vinci in 1452. As a teenager, he was apprenticed to the artist Verrocchio. Leonardo is one of the most famous artists of all time. He also painted the Mona Lisa which remains a very famous painting. He also painted the famous Last Supper. He, above anyone else embodies the term “Renaissance Man” because he did everything. He excelled in painting, sculptor, botany, and science. He was also a skilled architect and poet. He was very curious and hardly ever finished any of his works. Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in 1475 in the village of Caprese. Michelangelo is arguably the most famous and skilled painter of all time. But all he wanted to do was sculpt. He didn’t even think of himself as a painter. His most famous work is probably the David, his 18-foot marble statue of the Biblical hero. Another of Michelangelo’s famed masterpieces is his frescoes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The frescoes took 4 years to complete. The panels show the stories of the Bible from the creation to Noah in reverse order. Michelangelo also painted the famous Last Judgment on one of the walls in the Sistine. Some of his other works include the Pieta, the Moses, and the Madonna.
Michelangelo and da Vinci are both artists of the Renaissance, and they have many points of similarity and difference. Some similarities that they had in common, was both artist gained a lot of there inspiration from passages in the bible. Michelangelo and Leonardo were known to be innovators through there powerful imagery, brilliant colors and their unusual ways to create depth and volume in their piece of art. Both individuals “earned their reputations not just as painters and sculptors but as architects and draftsmen as well.” (Kleiner, 2010). The one greatest similarity was they both wished to return the art to its original glory in Rome. However, the biggest difference was the way they chose to do so.
Michelangelo chose to turn to both drawing and sculpture. We all know his David and Sistine Chapel was example of both techniques. He chose to profit his art by creating his own “gods” of beauty. He was very accurate about the human form and took it to perfection. Leonardo da Vinci chose to take art to a science point of view. He would draw figures as research in the beginning, and once he understood both the inside and outside of the body did he start to create masterpieces. He was big on details of every sort, starting from bodies and ending with cloth and landscape.
You will notice the style difference between Michelangelo and Da Vinci. In Leonardo composition like the Last Supper, Mona Lisa and Madonna of the Rocks, his characters are painted with clothes and the body features are well defined. However, in looking at Michelangelo painting composition like The Manchester Madonna, and The Last Judgment you will notice he has fewer cloths and the characters are very muscular.
In the 16th century the center for Renaissance artists shifted from Florence to Rome. Almost every great name in 16th century art went to Rome either to work on projects for the pope or the nobility, this included Michelangelo and Da Vinci. Leonardo Da Vinci is the perfect example of a Renaissance man, because he was interested in and well informed about a great many subjects. Like many artists of the time, he was a sculptor and an architect as well as a painter. The unique way he handled light and shadow is his most unusual characteristic. Leonardo’s remarkable ability to grasp and express the mysteries of man and nature made him one of the greatest painters during this era. Michelangelo’s created pieces of art for instance the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, which took Renaissance art over the top.
Although both Michelangelo and Da Vince had different styles, they were known to be the master’s of art of Renaissance. Both artist displayed mannerism in their compositions. Renaissance remained as a permanent heritage to all artists. Michelangelo and Da Vinci contribution of the Renaissance was their vision of beautiful characters.