Sunday, March 30, 2014

The Rightful Archetypal Renaissance Man

By Darren Hartley


Two of the most influential works in fresco in Western art history are Michelangelo paintings. They are renowned regardless of the low opinion of painting Michelangelo has. These works are the Genesis scenes found on the Sistine chapel ceiling and the Last Judgment painting on the Sistine Chapel altar wall. The Sistine chapel is found in Rome.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simon was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet and engineer. He is not only known for his Michelangelo paintings but also for two sculptures made before he turned thirty. These are the Pieta and the David.

As an architect, he revolutionized classical architecture by using plaster as the main element in his design of the dome of St Peter's Basilica also 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.

The title of the archetypal Renaissance man is referred for the individual whose continuous curiosity runs parallel with his inventive skills. Only two artists have been under consideration for this honor, Michelangelo and his fellow Italian and rival, Leonardo da Vinci. Michelangelo earned his berth for the title from his versatility in the disciplines of the highest order. This versatility Michelangelo was able to attain despite the low number of forays he made beyond the arts.

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.

Other than his iconic Vitruvian Man drawing, only 15 Da Vinci paintings were able to survive the passing of the centuries. This phenomenon, though largely due to Leonardo's persistent and more often than not disastrous experimentation with new techniques, is also attributable to his chronic procrastination of his own accomplishments.

However, these few Da Vinci paintings comprise a contribution to later generations of artists, together with his notebooks, containing drawings, scientific diagrams and thoughts on the nature of painting. Again, this contribution is only rivalled by the corresponding contribution of his chief rival contemporary, 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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