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A named Renaissance painter or sculptor (Leonardo da Vinci)
Leonardo da Vinci was born in Vinci, near Florence in Italy in 1452.
At the age of fifteen, he was sent to train as an artist’s apprentice in Florence.
He worked with other apprentices in the studio of the famous painter and
craftsperson, Andrea del Verrocchio.
Here he learned the skills of painting and sculpture.
His first painting of note was one of an angel in the corner of a larger work by
Verrocchio called the “Baptist of Christ.” This angel was apparently painted so
well that it caused Verrocchio to never paint again.
Leonardo da Vinci was accepted into the Florentine artists’ guild at the age of
twent and spent the next ten years working there, sometimes for Lorenzo de
Medici.
In 1482, he went to Milan to work for Ludovico Sforza, who often used him to
organize engineering works and festivals.
Around this time also, Leonardo da Vinci was compiling notebooks full of ideas
for tanks, submarines, helicopters and parachutes. These notes were written in
‘mirror writing’ – from right to left.
During his seventeen years in Milan, da Vinci painted only six paintings,
including “The Virgin of the Rocks” and “The Last Supper,” which is a fresco
painted onto a wall of a monostary in Santa Maria delle Grazie.
In 1499, Leonardo left Milan and went to Florence where, among other work,
he painted “The Mona Lisa,” which is now on display in Paris’ Louvre
Museum.
Sfumato is used in this painting which is a Renaissance technique which causes
the lady’s hair and clothing to blend into the background.
Leonardo da Vinci also studied science, dissecting corpses in his study of
anatomy and drawing plants, horses and birds in flight in his effort to further the
study of biology.
He died in France, as a guest of King Francis I, in 1519.
A named Renaissance painter or sculptor (Michelangelo)
Michelangelo was born near the city of Florence and when he was a
teenager he joined the school of sculpture that was run by Lorenzo de
Medici. Lorenzo became his patron and treated the young artist like a
member of his own family.
When Lorenzo died Michelangelo moved to Rome and one of his first
projects was the “Pieta”, a white marble sculpture of Mary and her dead
son. This world famous statue is today in the church of St. Peter in the
Vatican and is protected by bullet proof glass. Another famous statue he
carved was that of “David” which he did for the city of Florence and it
was around five metres tall. It is carved out of a single block of white
marble and is considered a masterpiece.
Pope Julius II was a famous patron of artists and he asked
Michelangelo to carve his tomb and later to paint frescoes on to the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. He spent around four years
working on these frescoes and these were all scenes from the Old
Testament. One of the most famous sections is that of God creating
Adam. The whole ceiling is 36 metres long and 13 metres wide. He also
painted a huge fresco on the wall of the Chapel behind the altar and this
was called the “Last Judgement”.
Michelangelo was also involved in the design and building of the new
St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. He designed the dome. He also wrote
poetry so today he is recognised as an artist, sculptor, architect
and poet. He died at the age of 89 years in the city of Rome but the
people from his native city stole his body and had it buried in his native
city of Florence.