Christian Religious Paintings: Michelangelo Vs. Raphael

There are many similarities and differences between Classical Roman and Early Christian Art. What particularly stands out to me is how much these two cultures have in common when it comes to their art and architecture. Romans were geniuses when it came to engineering and we can see that in the monuments they left behind. Many early Christian architectural styles and ideas were adopted straight from the Romans. Their communities became organized geographically much like those of the Roman provincial governments. Christian cultural styles derived straight from Roman visual traditions. Early Christian art features the adoption of Roman art forms for Christian purposes. Their art also featured

Michelangelo wasn’t always part of the Renaissance he had a life before the Renaissance. It’s not like Michelangelo was born and became one of the greatest artist. Nope. Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese, Italy. At a young age, Michelangelo copied painting on churches instead of doing schoolwork. When Michelangelo was 14 years old, Michelangelo’s father convinced an artist, Ghirlandaio to take Michelangelo as an apprentice. Michelangelo improved his skills. Later, Lorenzo de Medici, the current ruler, asked Ghirlandaio to bring his best two artists to a Humanist Academy. Ghirlandaio choose Michelangelo and another boy named Francesco Granacci. Michelangelo’s love for art grew and strengthened, and he went off to become one of

Michelangelo was born in a time in which the church had a great influence on

The character of David has been the inspiration for many works of art throughout history. The young David, armed with only a sling, defeated the gigantic warrior, Goliath, and became the hero of the human people. This story became very popular during the Italian Renaissance, the period of 14th-16th centuries. During the Italian Renaissance, Florence was under constant change and turmoil however David remained the people with faith for the people. Many other artists have expressed their own depictions of the young boy but two stand out among all. Donatello and Michelangelo both created masterpieces on the biblical subject although the approaches of each artist were completely different in some ways this caused unique reactions.

The works of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo influenced the art of the 16th century in Italy and Europe in many ways. Three of Michelangelo’s works such as: The Last Judgment, Pieta, and David were great works during his time. Leonardo da Vinci also contributed great works to the 15st century such as: The Last Supper, St. James in the Wilderness, and The Mona Lisa. Although there were some similarities in Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo’s works, their differences and uniqueness is what made their works great masterpieces of the 15th and 16th century.

What if you created a masterpiece that the whole world knew? Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael are some of the artists that did so. Artists from our day look up to them and use their techniques from long ago. Many artists in the renaissance types are some of the most well-known creators of all time.

The Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci around 1503-6, is oil on panel. It is a three quarter portrait of a young, Florentine woman. She is sitting in a chair with her torso twisting around to face the viewer. Her hands are resting on the arm of the chair. Behind the woman in the background is a landscape very characteristic of many Leonardo paintings. The Mona Lisa was painted toward the end of Leonardo’s career. In contrast, the David created by Michelangelo around 1501-4, is a marble sculpture of the biblical hero David. The seventeen foot tall statue depicts a young man standing in contrapposto. Most of his weight is supported with is right leg, while his left leg is relaxed. He holds

Michelangelo Buonarroti lived in a time when the medieval aspects of Christianity were overwhelmed by the upheaval of the Reformation. His art portrays this change in religious philosophy by discerning the major trends and objectives of the Renaissance. "His works show us...the changing world around him" (Richmond 4). In addition, Michelangelo seriously impacted generations of artists to come.

The Last Supper by Leonardo is very different to Tintoretto’s representation of the same incident. The last supper is one of the most important occurrences which took place in the Christian religion such an important event that many have seen the need for the event visually recorded through art the two most famous of these representations are by far Tintoretto’s and Leonardo’s works. The Last Supper by Leonardo was created during the renaissance period and is a simple symbolic work with little emotion. Tintoretto however chose to represent the event in a surrealistic manner to give full impact; A way in which was typical of the art period in which he painted the work, the

Raphael was one of the most important artists of the Italian Renaissance. Raphael painted and designed many brilliant pieces of work and the stanzas inside the Vatican. He was a master at such necessities of modern art such as depth and perspective and the use of light and shadow, and was the turning point styles of paintings like the use of Madonnas in paintings. Through his short life, Raphael would make some of the most awe-inspiring, beautiful, and influential works of art during the Italian Renaissance.

Michelangelo was an equally religious man and a lot of his ideas and subjects for his art came from

The Medici family commissioned many artists to make art for them. By the family commissioning them it basically made the artist’s name. In the early time of the Medici family when they were just building up their empire commission artists would help them to build their political prestige and their reputation in the community. Initially in the time of Lorenzo Medici the church wanted nothing to do with the Medici family’s art patronage because they believed that the works that they had commissioned were crude or inappropriate due to nudity or sexual scenes. About 70 years later right before Pope Julius died the Medici art patronage was brought into the church when he commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. By Michelangelo being brought into the light of the Catholic Church it opened doors for the Medici family to

Leonardo, the distracted, uncommitted artist, easily lost interest in his work, leaving the majority of his pieces unfinished. Michelangelo was also an avid give-up-er, though not to the unprofessional extent of Leonardo, which is one of the reasons Michelangelo tended to get more attention from people who paid for art, as Michelangelo was more reliable. In contrast, Raphael created and finished much more art than the others. The reasons for the differences in these artists’ amount of unfinished art can be revealed in how much assistance they used. First, Leonardo did his work almost completely on his own, limiting his assistants to mostly mixing the paints. Michelangelo shared this controlling personality, letting only his best helpers paint small and insignificant parts of the sistine chapel. Lastly, Raphael was more open to assistance, letting his aids do much of the painting of his large pieces, giving him more time in the creativity and drawing out of his

It may also come from the location where both works were created, the Vatican apartments, only blocks away from the Sistine Chapel. Raphael’s painting showed immense alikeness with Michelangelo and he was influenced by the work of his senior, mainly the Prophets and Sibyls. When the painting of the Prophet of Isaiah was executed by both artists, Raphael’s Isaiah conveyed similar figural composition and made it Michelangelo-esque. The painting was self-confined and the essence of scroll in both paintings were present, only Raphael evolved the way it is being held by Isaiah. This similarity is carried on throughout the Stanze. But somehow, Raphael could never rise up to Michelangelo’s mastery, even as he

With the continuous growth of paintings and artists, prestige for art increased dramatically to the point in which religious aspects were shown through landscapes, portraits, and temperas. This then allowed the creation of new styles and mathematical input that manifested everyday life with religious aspects. One such artist was Giovanni Bellini who introduced bright, rich, strong colors into his palette and landscapes that expressed the happiness, calmness, and prosperity that Italy carried throughout the Renaissance. These characteristics and styles of paintings subsequently became a popular Venetian cornerstone. Other important figures in the Italian Renaissance that demonstrated the movement?s ideas through their ingenious paintings and architectural methods were Pier Della Francesca and Leon Battista Alberti. Francesca, who was and expert in mathematics, developed the art form of perspective. Alberti, on the other hand, as an architect developed the pediment which became popular throughout the entire Renaissance. His monasteries and churches depicted many of the religious ideas, as evident in one of his famous works, the Santa Maria Novella. All in all, the use of the common religious themes such as the annunciation, adoration, Crucifixion, and the popular Madonna