Marias Art Blog: Leonardo and Michelangelo

Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452 as the illegitimate son of Ser Pierro da Vinci and Caterina a peasant girl. Never receiving a complete education because of his illegitimate standing, at the age of fifth teen, Leonardo became an apprentice to Andrea Del Verrocchio in Florence. It has been said that Leonardo had a good sense of humor, he was strong, intelligent, was a good dresser and a good natured person. As well as being an artist he was also interested in other things like inventing. So when he moved to Milan he worked as a military engineer for Duke Ludovico Sforza. He spent seventeen years there then started traveling around to different places like Rome and France after the duke was forced to flee because the French was invading. During these years he made many works like the Mona Lisa. He died in 1519 at the age of 67 years old.

Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 in Capresse. His father was Ludovico di Leonardo di Buonaroti di Simoni and his mother was Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena. He was apprenticed to Domenico Ghirlandaio and later Lorenzo de' Medici. Once he became an independent artist he traveled around completing works for his patrons. During these years he produced many artworks two of which are very famous, those being the David statue and the Sistine Chapel ceiling. He ended up in Rome for his last days and died in 1564. He was then buried in Florence.

Michelangelo was arrogant, dissatisfied with himself, and had some habits that drove people away. He himself didn't seem to like to be in the company of others very much. Both artists worked in the Renaissance period and both artists were commissioned a lot with works based on bible events or scenes.

Some examples of the styles of these two men are: for Leonardo his works of the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, and Lady with an Ermine. A lot of his works represent woman and bible scenes, quotes, and events. He also took a scientific point of view with his paintings. He did research on everything he could possibly think would help him with his new work and liked to perfect the details. For Michelangelo he was more about the physical body. Most of the subjects in his works wore very little clothing and he represented his subjects as very muscular. He was accurate with his works of human bodies because he worshiped the human body and it showed in the detail of his works. For example with his works the statue of David, the Sistine Chapel, and the Pieta. These are mainly about men because men have those muscles Michelangelo seemed so intent on portraying. As well they are unclothed and very accurate. Leonardo’s subjects are mainly woman with detail blending into every part of the work from the subject to the clothes and background.