Discussing the two artists Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, they were both known as the Renaissance men. I will be covering the time period of the Italian Renaissance. Following after with the bibliography of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti, and comparing the two artist’s paintings. However asking the question how can two artists that live in the same time period, have the same culture, but have so different styles of painting.
The Italian Renaissance started in the 13th and 14th Century, leading into the High Renaissance, Renaissance in the North, and the late Renaissance in Italy. In Italy the society after the Middle Ages was powerful city states, extensive trade, and banking had developed. Education was a priority; in Italy the first University for Greek Studies was established. Most Scholars referred to themselves as humanists, not only did they believe education should teach the early Christian hood, but also liberal arts, grammar, poetry, history, politics, and philosophy. Renaissance humanists believed strongly in knowledge, they felt that God created mankind to pursue knowledge and strive to their full potential. Thus, this leads into artists creating visual elements of art to teach education. The main patron of artwork was The Church, wealthy independents, and merchant-princes. The Church paid the finest artists to paint stories of Bible references, because most people in this time period were illiterate. Examples for The Church would be “Bellini, Pieta,” “Leonardo, Virgin and St. Anne,” and “Leonardo, The Last Supper”. All three of these artworks illustrate a biblical story. Also another patron was Pope Julius II; he commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of The Sistine Chapel. Well-known artist of the Renaissance time period was Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. Leonardo and Michelangelo