Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo (1452-1519) was the ultimate “Renaissance man” for the breadth of his intellect, interest and
talent and his expression of humanist and classical values. Leonardo’s best-known works, including the
“Mona Lisa” (1503-05), “The Virgin of the Rocks” (1485) and the fresco “The Last Supper” (1495-98),
showcase his unparalleled ability to portray light and shadow, as well as the physical relationship
between figures–humans, animals and objects alike–and the landscape around them.

Leonardo da Vinci, the ultimate "Renaissance man," practiced all the visual arts and studied a wide
range of topics, including anatomy, geology, botany, hydraulics and flight. His formidable reputation is
based on relatively few completed paintings, including "Mona Lisa," "The Virgin of the Rocks" and "The
Last Supper."

The Last Supper

Jesus has just told his followers that he is
about to be betrayed by one of them. We
see the reactions of all. All the disciples'
feet are visible, be it vaguely. Jesus,
however, has to do without. When the
monastery was renovated at some point in
time, someone decided to have a door put
in, sacrificing Jesus' feet in the process. The
Last Supper is in every aspect a remarkable
composition, with excellent use of
perspective, lively figures and strong
emotions. For this fresco, Leonardo tried out a new technique. He painted on a dry layer of plaster
instead of a wet one, so as to achieve livelier colors and sharper images. It worked well, but
unfortunately the tempera started peeling.
Through the centuries restorers have applied layers of varnish upon which oils were applied to repaint
the work. A bombing in 1943 fortunately spared the refectory. However, the building itself was severely
damaged, causing damp problems. The fresco became moldy as a result.
At the latest restoration effort in 1999, concluding a period of 20 years of restoration, attempts were
made to remove as many non-original layers as possible. This is a picture of the painting before the 1999
restoration.

Mona Lisa

Portrait of Mona Lisa, also known as La Gioconda, the wife of Francesco del
Giocondo;

This painting is painted as oil onwood. The original paintingsize is77 x 53 cm(30 x
20 7/8 in) and is owned by theGovernment of France and is on the wall in the
Louvre in Paris, France.
This figure of a woman, dressed in the Florentine fashion of her day and seated in a visionary,
mountainous landscape, is a remarkable instance of Leonardo's sfumato technique of soft, heavily
shaded modeling. The Mona Lisa's enigmatic expression, which seems both alluring and aloof, has given
the portrait universal fame.

The Mona Lisa's famous smile represents the sitter in the same way that the juniper branches represent
Ginevra Benci and the ermine represents Cecilia Gallerani in their portraits, in Washington and Krakow
respectively. It is a visual representation of the idea of happiness suggested by the word "gioconda" in
Italian. Leonardo made this notion of happiness the central motif of the portrait: it is this notion which
makes the work such an ideal.

The nature of the landscape also plays a role. The middle distance, on the same level as the sitter's
chest, is in warm colors. Men live in this space: there is a winding road and a bridge. This space
represents the transition between the space of the sitter and the far distance, where the landscape
becomes a wild and uninhabited space of rocks and water which stretches to the horizon, which
Leonardo has cleverly drawn at the level of the sitter's eyes.

The painting was among the first portraits to depict the sitter before an imaginary landscape and
Leonardo was one of the first painters to use aerial perspective. The enigmatic woman is portrayed
seated in what appears to be an open loggia with dark pillar bases on either side. Behind her a vast
landscape recedes to icy mountains. Winding paths and a distant bridge give only the slightest
indications of human presence.

The sensuous curves of the woman's hair and clothing, created through sfumato, are echoed in the
undulating imaginary valleys and rivers behind her. The blurred outlines, graceful figure, dramatic
contrasts of light and dark, and overall feeling of calm are characteristic of da Vinci's style. Due to the
expressive synthesis that da Vinci achieved between sitter and landscape it is arguable whether Mona
Lisa should be considered as a traditional portrait, for it represents an ideal rather than a real woman.
The sense of overall harmony achieved in the painting especially apparent in the sitter's faint smile
reflects the idea of a link connecting humanity and nature. In the Renaissance which brought together
all human activities, art meant science, art meant truth to life: Leonardo da Vinci was a great figure
because he embodied the epic Endeavour of Italian art to conquer universal values: he who combined
within himself the fluctuating sensitivity of the artist and the deep wisdom of the scientist, he, the poet
and the master.

In his Mona Lisa, the individual, a sort of miraculous creation of nature, represents at the same time the
species: the portrait goes beyond its social limitations and acquires a universal meaning. Although
Leonardo worked on this picture as a scholar and thinker, not only as a painter and poet, the scientific
and philosophical aspects of his research inspired no following. But the formal aspect - the new
presentation, the nobler attitude and the increased dignity of the model - had a decisive influence over
Florentine portraits of the next twenty years, over the classical portrait. With his Mona Lisa, Leonardo
created a new formula, at the same time more monumental and more lively, more concrete and yet
more poetic than that of his predecessors.

Before him, portraits had lacked mystery; artists only represented outward appearances without any
soul, or, if they showed the soul, they tried to express it through gestures, symbolic objects or
inscriptions. The Mona Lisa alone is a living enigma: the soul is there, but inaccessible.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) drew on the human body for inspiration and created works on a
vast scale. He was the dominant sculptor of the High Renaissance, producing pieces such as the Pietà in
St. Peter’s Cathedral (1499) and the David in his native Florence (1501-04). He carved the latter by hand
from an enormous marble block; the famous statue measures five meters high including its base.

Though Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor first and foremost, he achieved greatness as a
painter as well, notably with his giant fresco covering the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, completed over
four years (1508-12) and depicting various scenes from Genesis(origin).

Raphael Sanzio
Raphael Sanzio, the youngest of the
three great High Renaissance masters,
learned from both da Vinci and
Michelangelo. His paintings–most
notably “The School of Athens” (1508-
11), painted in the Vatican at the same
time that Michelangelo was working on
the Sistine Chapel–skillfully expressed
the classical ideals of beauty, serenity
and harmony.

Among the other great Italian artists working during this period were Bramante, Giorgione, Titian and
Correggio.