1. Renaissance Artists
Da Vinci vs. Michelangelo
(1452-1519)
(1475-1564)

2. Tobias and the Angel
c1473
This small panel is typical
of the type of painted
works produced in the
workshop of Andrea del
Verrocchio in Florence
during the 1470s, which
clearly exhibits the work of
different artists.
The painting is sometimes
attributed to Perugino, who
was said to have worked
in Verrocchio’s workshop
and parts such as the dog
and the fish are thought to
have been painted by
Leonardo.

3. Annunciation 1472-74
Once thought to be the work of Domenico Ghirlandaio, this painting is
now generally agreed to be an early work by Leonardo, painted
sometime between 1472 and 1474.
The architecture seen on the right, in front of which the Virgin is seated,
reflects the conventions of linear perspective probably learnt by Leonardo
in Verrocchio’s workshop.

4. The Baptism of Christ
Andrea del Verrocchio with
Leonardo da Vinci
1472-75 Oil on wood
Commissioned by the monastery
church of San Salvi in Florence,
where remained until 1530, the
picture was executed in the
workshop of Andrea del
Verrocchio, whose style is well
defined by the figures of Christ
and Baptist. The special fame of
the work is however due to the
Verrocchio's pupil who helped
him paint the picture: in the blond
angel on the left and in the
landscape above is in fact
recognizable the hand of
Leonardo, the very young
Leonardo, present in Verrocchio's
workshop around 1470. Some
critics ascribe the second angel
to another young florentine artist,
Sandro Botticelli.

7. Michelangelo
produced at
least two relief
sculptures by
the time he
was 16 years
old, the Battle
of the Centaurs
(shown here)
and the
Madonna of the
Stairs.
1489-92

8. Madonna
of the
Stairs.
1489-92

9. Michelangelo then went to
Rome, where he was able
to examine many newly
unearthed classical statues
and ruins. He soon
produced his first largescale sculpture, the overlife-size Bacchus (1496-98,
Bargello, Florence). One of
the few works of pagan
rather than Christian
subject matter made by the
master, it rivaled ancient
statuary, the highest mark
of admiration in
Renaissance Rome.

10. The Pietà (1498–99)
by Michelangelo
This is a marble
sculpture in St. Peter's
Basilica in Rome, the
first of a number of
works of the same
subject by the artist.
The statue was
commissioned by the
French cardinal Jean de
Billheres, who was a
representative in Rome.
The statue was made
for the cardinal's funeral
monument, but was
moved to its current
location, the first chapel
on the right as one
enters the basilica, in
the 18th century.
This famous work of art
depicts the body of
Jesus in the arms of His
mother Mary after the
Crucifixion.

11. The figures are quite out of
proportion, owing to the difficulty of
depicting a fully-grown man cradled
full-length in a woman's lap. If Christ
were to be human scale, the Virgin,
standing, would be nearly five meters
tall. This could very well be
intentional, however: as said above,
this statue was moved from its
original location, and we don't know in
which position it was before. If it was
to be situated in a high place,
Michelangelo could have intentionally
deformed it, to balance human sight
aberration. However, much of the
Virgin's size is concealed in her
drapery, and the figures look quite
natural.
The marks of the crucifixion are
limited to very small nail marks and
an indication of the wound in Jesus'
side. The imprints of the nails in the
feet do not "go through" to the
underside of the foot.

13. Michelangelo:
The Holy Family
with the infant St.
John the Baptist
c. 1506
Highly significant of
the artist's style, the
painting shows the
peculiar twisting of the
limbs and the
evidence given to
body's muscles, a
pattern that clearly
appears in
michelangiolesque
sculpture. Brightness
of colors, lighting
effects, emphasize
impressiveness of the
sacred figures.

14. Da Vinci: Perspective study of the Adoration of the Magi
c. 1481

15. The Adoration of
the Magi (1481)
is an early
painting by da
Vinci. Leonardo
was given the
commission by
the Augustinian
monks of San
Donato a Scopeto
in Florence, but
departed for Milan
the following year,
leaving the
painting
unfinished.

16. Leonardo develops his
pioneering use of
chiaroscuro in the
image, creating a
seemingly chaotic mass
of people plunged into
darkness and confusion
from which the Magi
peer towards the
brightly lit figures of
Mary and Jesus, while
the pagan world in the
background carries on
building and warring
unaware of the new
revelation.

17. The use of perspective in da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi

18. Da Vinci:
Virgin of the Rocks: 1495-1508
There are two versions of the
Virgin of the Rocks, one (the
earlier) in the Louvre, Paris and
another in the National Gallery,
London.
The first work that Leonardo
executed in Milan is the so-called
Virgin of the Rocks: the religious
figures are depicted in a rocky
grotto, in which they are sitting on
a stone floor. The figures are
subjected to a strict spatial
arrangement called a pyramidal
composition.

19. The painting portrays the
Virgin Mary with her right
hand around the shoulders of
the infant St. John the Baptist
and her left hand over the
head of the Christchild. On
the right, further towards the
foreground, the Christchild
makes a sign of blessing
towards St. John, while an
Archangel, probably Uriel,
who is traditionally associated
with St. John, points towards
St. John with her right hand.

20. Scientific examination of the
painting has revealed numerous
pentimenti or “small changes” to
the original design in the
underdrawing, such as the
alteration of the position of the
head and legs of the Christchild
and the position of the Virgin’s
left hand, which confirms that the
painting was not intended to be a
straightforward copy of the first
version.
In this painting, the rocky outdoor
setting of the earlier Louvre
painting has been transformed
into an enclosed grotto that gives
rise to dramatic chiaroscuro
effects of light and shadow,
reflecting Leonardo’s intense
study of the effects of light during
the middle of the first decade of
the sixteenth century.

21. Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani
(The Lady with the Ermine)
1490
Scientific examination of the
painting has revealed the
remains of spolvere in the
outlines of the figure and the
head, which confirm the use of a
cartoon - a full-scale drawing,
the design of which was
transferred to the panel by a
process of pricked outlines
pounced with charcoal dust.
Furthermore, traces of direct
under-drawing were found on
the panel in areas of the hands,
right arm, bridge of the nose and
the hairline, suggesting that
Leonardo made adjustments to
elements of the composition
after the drawn design had been
transferred.

22. Fingerprints, commonly found in
Leonardo’s paintings from this
period have also been identified
on Cecilia’s face and on the
head of the ermine. The
background appears to have
been repainted and may
originally have been painted
grey-blue by Leonardo.
The animal cradled in Cecilia’s
arms is an Ermine, which was a
symbol of virtue and purity. It
may also be a play on Cecilia’s
name, as the Greek word for
ermine is galée, and a reference
to Ludovico Sforza, who was
appointed a member of the
Order of the Ermine by
Ferdinand I of Naples in 1488.

23. The proportions of the
human body in the manner of
Vitruvius (The Vitruvian Man)
c1490
This iconic drawing illustrates
Leonardo’s own interpretation of
Vitruvius’ written account of how
the ideal proportions of man, with
arms and legs outstretched, would
fit into the geometric forms of the
square and the circle. In order to
achieve a coherent solution,
Leonardo chose to adjust the
relationship between the circle and
the square - only the centre of the
circle coincides with the navel,
while the centre of the square is
located somewhat lower.

24. The Last Supper, Da Vinci (1498)

25. Da Vinvi's, Last Supper (after restoration) has become one of the most widely
appreciated masterpieces in the world. It began to acquire its unique reputation
immediately after it was finished in 1498 and its prestige has never diminished.
Despite the many changes in tastes, artistic styles, and rapid physical deterioration of
the painting itself, the painting's status as an extraordinary creation has never been
questioned nor doubted. The perfection of this work lies not only in the artistic merits
of the painting, but also in Leonardo's expressive mastery.

26. Hidden Score
This image shows a haunting melody concealed within da Vinci's
masterpiece "The Last Supper," argues musician Giovanni Maria Pala.
Pala, who will publish his findings next week in the book "La Musica
Celata" (which translates to "The Hidden Music"), claims to have
discovered nothing less than a sacred hymn and text, along with mystic
symbols in da Vinci's degraded masterpiece.

28. In what was a highly innovative approach to the traditional
representation of the subject, Leonardo concentrated on the
different reactions of each of the Apostles, conveying their
varied emotional responses through their facial expressions,
poses and physical gestures. Surviving studies for the
heads of some of the Apostles indicate that Leonardo
studied the physiognomy and expression of each individual,
working out every detail in drawings.
In the painting, he took the unusual step of arranging the
figures into groups of three in order to avoid the monotony
of the elongated format of the composition.
They are generally excepted on this basis as from left to
right, Bartholomew, James the Younger, Andrew, Judas,
Peter, John, all on Christ’s left, and Thomas, James the
Elder, Philip, Matthew, Thaddeus and Simon to the right of
Christ.

30. In 1508 Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the vault, or ceiling
of the Sistine Chapel. It took him until 1512 to complete. To be able to reach the
ceiling, Michelangelo needed a support; the first idea was by Bramante, who wanted to
build for him a special scaffold, suspended in the air with ropes. But Michelangelo
suspected that this would leave holes in the ceiling once the work was ended, so he
built a scaffold of his own, a flat wooden platform on brackets built out from holes in the
wall, high up near the top of the windows. He stood on this scaffolding while he painted.
The first layer of plaster began to grow mold because it was too wet. Michelangelo had
to remove it and start again, but he tried a new mixture, called intonaco, created by one
of his assistants, Jacopo l'Indaco.

31. The chapel is rectangular in shape
and measures 40.93 meters long by
13.41 meters wide. It is 20.70 meters
high and is roofed by a flattened barrel
vault, with little side vaults over the
centered windows.
Length = 132 feet
Width = 44 feet
Height = 68 feet
Michelangelo was employed to paint
only 12 figures, the Apostles, but
when the work was finished there
were more than 300. His figures
showed the creation, Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden and the Great
Flood. The sketches are a really
precious and curious document.
Michelangelo used male models, even
for the females, because female
models were more rare and costly
than male ones.

32. The Sistine Chapel's ceiling restoration began on
November 7th, 1984. The restoration complete, the chapel
was re-opened to the public on April 8th, 1994.

36. he devised an intricate system of decoration that included nine scenes
from the Book of Genesis, beginning with God Separating Light from
Darkness and including the Creation of Adam and Eve, the Temptation
and Fall of Adam and Eve, and the Flood.

37. The project was physically and
emotionally torturous for
Michelangelo. Michelangelo
recounts its effect on him with
these words: "After four tortured
years, more than 400 over lifesized figures, I felt as old and as
weary as Jeremiah. I was only
37, yet friends did not recognize
the old man I had become."

38. In order to prepare for this
enormous work,
Michelangelo drew
numerous figure studies
and cartoons, devising
scores of figure types and
poses. These awesome,
mighty images,
demonstrating
Michelangelo's masterly
understanding of human
anatomy and movement,
changed the course of
painting in the West.

39. Here like a cat in a Lombardy sewer!
Swelter and toil!
With my neck puffed out like a pigeon,
belly hanging like an empty sack,
beard pointing at the ceiling, and my
brain
fallen backwards in my head!
Breastbone bulging like a harpy’s
and my face, from drips and droplets,
patterned like a marble pavement.
Ribs are poking in my guts; the only way
to counterweight my shoulders is to stick
my butt out. Don’t know where my feet
arethey’re just dancing by themselves!
In front I’ve sagged and stretched;
behind,
my back is tauter than an archer’s bow!

40. Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci,
circa 1503–1507
Leonardo gave no known title to the
painting. The title Mona Lisa stems
from the Giorgio Vasari biography of
Leonardo, published 31 years after
Leonardo's death. In it he identified
the sitter as Lisa, the wife of wealthy
Florentine businessman Francesco
del Giocondo. "Mona" is a common
Italian contraction of "madonna",
meaning "my lady", so the title
means "Lady Lisa".
The smooth transitions from light to
dark areas is attributed to the
sfumato technique. This technique
roughly translates to “smoky” in
Italian and creates natural looking
transitions in the piece.

41. The painting's increasing
fame was further
emphasized when it was
stolen on August 21, 1911.
On September 7, avantgarde French poet
Guillaume Apollinaire, who
had once called for the
Louvre to be "burnt down",
was arrested and put in jail
on suspicion of theft. His
friend Pablo Picasso was
brought in for questioning,
but both were later released.
At the time, the painting was
believed lost forever. It
turned out that Louvre
employee Vincenzo
Peruggia stole it by simply
walking out the door with it
hidden under his coat.

42. Leonardo da Vinci
The foetus in the womb 1512

43. Anatomical studies of an
old man 1510

44. The Tomb of Julius II
Before the assignment of the Sistine
Ceiling in 1505, Michelangelo had
been commissioned by Julius II to
produce his tomb, which was
planned to be the most magnificent
of Christian times. Michelangelo
enthusiastically went ahead with the
challenging project, which was to
include more than 40 figures,
spending months in the quarries to
obtain the necessary Carrara marble.
Due to a mounting shortage of
money, however, the pope ordered
him to put aside the tomb project in
favor of painting the Sistine ceiling.

45. Q: Why does Moses have horns on his head?
A: Michelangelo's "Moses" has horns because one of the
biblical translations of "rays of light" became "horns" in
Italian. Because of this mistranslation, depictions of
Moses with horns became somewhat commonplace.

46. Michelangelo:
Slave (awakening)
1519-36
Marble, height 267 cm
“Slave” demonstrates
Michelangelo's
approach to carving. He
conceived of the figure
as being imprisoned in
the block. By removing
the excess stone, the
form was released.
Here, as is frequently
the case with his
sculpture, Michelangelo
left the statues
unfinished.

47. Michelangelo:
Pietà Rondanini, (unfinished)
1552-64
Marble
Height: 195 cm (6.4 feet)
Michelangelo worked on from the
1550s until the last weeks of his
life, in 1564.
When viewing the sculpture from
certain rear angles, it looks as if
Jesus is holding Mary up with his
back, instead of Mary cradling
Jesus. It is said that Michelangelo
carefully crafted it this way to
represent how Jesus's spirit might
actually have been comforting
Mary in her loss

49. Da Vinci:
Studies of human skull
1489

50. Da Vinci:
Male head in profile
with proportions
c. 1490

51. Da Vinci:
The Virgin and Child with St Anne
c. 1510
The painting was
commissioned by the Servites
in Florence. It is unfinished;
perhaps it was abandoned
because of the artist's sudden
interest in mathematics, and
his engagement as engineer
in the service of Cesare
Borgia. Another hand seems
to have finished the lamb
which he had perhaps only
sketched in; the landscape, St
Anne, the Virgin and the Child
Christ are the work of
Leonardo himself.

52. The work is a synthesis
of all of Leonardo’s
artistic and intellectual
interests - atmospheric
effects, emotional
expression, fluid physical
movement and the
creative powers of
nature, all which
harmonize to achieve a
powerful and beautiful
expression of subtle
meaning in what appears
to be the artist’s final
painting.

53. St John the Baptist 1508-16
The atmospheric mood of the work
is largely due to the impressive use
of sfumato, or “smoky” effect,
achieved by Leonardo through
technical experiment and the
scientific study of light and shade
during the final years of his career.
By applying layers of thin translucent
varnish, the artist created a wide
range of shadows, blurring the
contours into soft transitions
between light and shade to achieve
an unprecedented plasticity in the
figure.
St. John appears to be illuminated
by an unknown light source outside
the painting, as gentle shadows
imbue his skin with a soft and
delicate appearance.

54. Da Vinci:
Multi Barrel Gun
1480-82

55. Da Vinci:
Giant Crossbow 1480-82

56. In 1501 Michelangelo was commissioned to create
the David. For this purpose, he was given a block of
marble which Agostino di Duccio had already
attempted to fashion forty years previously, perhaps
with the same subject in mind.
The artist places him in the most perfect
contraposto, as in the most beautiful Greek
representations of heroes. The right-hand side of
the statue is smooth and composed while the leftside, from the outstretched foot all the way up to the
disheveled hair is openly active and dynamic. The
muscles and the tendons are developed only to the
point where they can still be interpreted as the
perfect instrument for a strong will, and not to the
point of becoming individual self-governing forms.
Once the statue was completed, a committee of the
highest ranking citizens and artists decided that it
must be placed in the main square of the town, in
front of the Palazzo Vecchio, the Town Hall. It was
the first time since antiquity that a large statue of a
nude was to be exhibited in a public place.

57. Michelangelo:
Detail of the hand
of The David
Statue Height: 434 centimeters
Statue Height: 14.2 feet

59. The image is an actual frontal view
of David, as he coolly yet
menacingly awaits Goliath, his
sling at the ready over his shoulder
and his face full of disdain. With
this lighting, he actually appears to
be sneering at the giant. The
message of the sculpture is clearly,
"You [Goliath, and by extension,
Caesar Borgia and any other
potential enemy of the Florentine
Republic] are dead meat!"

60. The 4.34 meter (14 ft) marble statue portrays the Biblical King
David at the moment that he decides to do battle with Goliath.
Instead of being shown victorious over a foe much larger than he,
David looks tense and ready for combat. His veins bulge out of his
lowered right hand and the twist of his body effectively conveys to
the viewer the feeling that he is in motion. The statue is meant to
show David after he has made the decision to fight Goliath but
before the battle has actually taken place. It is a representation of the
moment between conscious choice and conscious action. However,
other experts (including Giuseppe Andreani, the current director of
Accademia Gallery) consider the depiction to represent the moment
immediately after battle, as David serenely contemplates his victory.

61. Da Vinci:
Self-Portrait c. 1512
A hand-written note from the 16th
century titles the drawing
"Leonardus Vincius (in red chalk)
self-portrait at an advanced age (in
charcoal)," so that its interpretation
as Leonardo's self-portrait during
the last years of his life is generally
accepted nowadays.
"Leonardo's hair and beard were so
long, and his eyebrows were so
bushy, that he appeared to be the
sheer idea of noble wisdom." In
stylistic terms, however, including
the use of parallel hatchings, the
drawing could date from before
1500, which would mean that this
could not be a self-portrait.

62. Michelangelo:
Crouching Boy
1530-33
"The Crouching
Boy" was thought to
be chiseled for the
Medici Chapel in
Florence during the
1520's. The
sculpture remains
unfinished
permitting an
examination of
Michelangelo's
vigorous handling
of marble.

63. Da Vinci:
Female head (La Scapigliata)
c. 1508

64. Michelangelo:
Tomb of Giuliano de'
Medici
1526-33
While residing in Florence
for this extended period,
Michelangelo also
undertook-between 1519
and 1534-the commission
of the Medici Tombs for the
New Sacristy of San
Lorenzo.

65. Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici
(detail)
1526-33

66. The Last Judgment
Michelangelo (1534-1541)
On the altar wall of the Sistine
Chapel was commissioned by
Pope Paul III, and
Michelangelo labored on the
project from 1534 to October
1541. Once completed, the
depictions of nakedness in the
papal chapel was considered
obscene and sacrilegious, and
Cardinal Carafa and
Monsignor Sernini
campaigned to have the fresco
removed or censored, but the
Pope resisted. After
Michelangelo's death, it was
decided to obscure the
nakedness. So Daniele da
Volterra, an apprentice of
Michelangelo, covered the
nakedness, leaving unaltered
the complex of bodies. When
the work was restored in 1993,
the restorers chose not to
remove the coverings of
Daniele.

67. Saint Bartholomew is shown
holding the knife of his
martyrdom and his flayed
skin. The face of the skin is
recognizable as Michelangelo.
Painted on the altar wall, the
Last Judgment was to
represent humanity face to
face with salvation.

68. The Last Judgment, which Michelangelo finished
in 1541 was the largest fresco of the
Renaissance, it depicts Judgment Day. Christ,
with a clap of thunder, puts into motion the
inevitable separation, with the saved ascending
on the left side of the painting and the damned
descending on the right into hell. As was his
custom, Michelangelo portrayed all the figures
nude, but prudish draperies were added by
another artist a decade later, as the cultural
climate became more conservative.