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The period of Renaissance has produced some inimitable creators of all times; gifted painters, sculptors like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti, who created with a curious mind, an eye for detail, deep love for humanism and a keen understanding of the natural world. When we look at the marvelous sculptures like the David by Michelangelo or we’re intrigued by the half-smile of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, we miss out some of the mysteries behind the masterpieces!
Have you ever thought that such talented creators like Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo of the Renaissance Art, loathed each other to the extent of having a public spat? Yes, their relationship as fellow artists were marked by mutual fascination and rivalry in a subtle way. While they both were considered as the geniuses of their period, their differences in age, personality, philosophy, artistic style & representation created an ambiance of disdain in the Florentine art fraternity. It was the time when Raphael, another great painter and architect, was caught in the mesh of rivalry with Michelangelo. At that time of art patronage, artists fought for art commissions by Pope and Court. The Medici family and other famous art patrons in Italy often set artists against each other to spur new ideas and artistic innovations; Michelangelo and Leonardo, the two prime Renaissance artists were no exceptions.
Let’s take a walk into the corridors of art & history in this blog to know what actually set the two titans apart – why did they hate each other in spite of their towering talents?
When the Two Titans Met with Disdain: Clash of Personalities
“Art is never finished, only abandoned,” – Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci, much older than Michelangelo, was a pleasing personality and a sophisticated man. Renowned for his refined ways and social acumen, he was much celebrated in the intellectual salons as the focal point of conversations. He had always considered art as an ongoing project, that’s why he left some of his classic creations unfinished, with an insane craving for perfection.
Whereas, Michelangelo Buonarroti was a private person, mostly immersed in his art and creations, hardly had time to spend on other vocations and socializing. Michelangelo was known for his brooding nature and would hardly care about what society has to say about his creations and manners.
Though the strife between these two personalities was never documented as such, their unique and discrete personalities often resulted in public conflicts. Going by the reports of Giorgio Vasari, a renaissance painter and author of “The Lives of the Artists,” Michelangelo being 23 years younger in age than Leonardo, often scoffed at him for his lack of consistency, highly intellectual manners, making scathing remarks about Leonardo’s unfinished works like the Gran Cavallo, a huge sculpture of a horse that he never finished.
Leonardo, on the other hand, mocked Michelangelo for his gruff manners and unrefined ways. There was a sharp competitive attitude between the two that was made evident with the commissioned fresco art contest of the Town Hall in Florence.
A combination of factors added to their animosity and an air of disapproval including their contrasting styles, professional ethics, personal differences regarding art and philosophy.
Did you know that Leonardo couldn’t finish Mona Lisa, the most adorable face of the world? He was on it for 16 years intermittently and left her unfinished. It was a sudden onset of traumatic nerve damage that affected his right hand.
What was behind their Artistic Rivalry?
What kept the disgust brewing between these two legends? Though there is lack of written evidence of the direct disagreement between the artists, art historians and researchers still find this seething rivalry as one of the most controversial chapters in the art history of Renaissance. Leonardo was a painter by heart whereas Michelangelo was more content as a sculptor. This very premise and other combining factors made them more than just contemporaries, but competitors.
Art Versus Sculpture
Leonardo da Vinci created beyond art; he was a polymath deeply invested in multifarious areas like science, geology, and human anatomy. These works represented his keenness to hold the empirical truth through his creations. The famous Sfumato style, the subtle light & shadow contrasts used in Renaissance paintings was his invention.
“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands,” - Leonardo
Michelangelo was more drawn to the three-dimensional aspect of art. He preferred muscular forms (put that extra depth) in his works adding more drama, with a raw emotional intensity. He often weighed sculpting as more substantial than painting allowing more of humanism and detailing and often scoffed at Leonardo’s paintings for lacking substance.
“Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” - Michelangelo
Leonardo dismissed Michelangelo’s figures as excessively muscular, lacking the subtlety and grace. These opposing interests and artistic inclinations made much room for their classic rivalry to breed in the art fraternity of Italy.
The Commission of Palazzo Florence: The Unfinished Battle of the Titans
Between 1503-1504, their rivalry took off a new turn when both the artists were commissioned and invited to create large-scale frescoes for Florence’s esteemed Palazzo Vecchio. It was a call to create commemorative arts for the Town Hall in Florence, and both the artists participated to work within the same space and project. Leonardo’s Battle of Anghiari and Michelangelo’s Battle of Cascina were amongst the artworks meant to be showcased on the walls but eventually, none of the frescos were completed. Michelangelo left for Rome leaving his work abandoned, while Leonardo couldn’t finish his fresco due to some technical faults in his approach. Michelangelo reportedly mocked Leonardo’s experiments with painting techniques that ultimately failed.
The Great Divide between Leonardo and Michelangelo
There were differences of opinions regarding art and ethics between the two stalwarts, mostly engaging professional perspectives rather than personal animosity. According to some chronicles, Michelangelo didn’t approve of Leonardo's use of perspective in his paintings for he believed it was a deviation from the essence of art. Nonetheless, both the painters and artists were epoch-makers pushing the boundaries of art heavily, influencing the western art history to a large extent.
Let’s gloss over some of the major creations of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci that set them at a pinnacle of eternal fame and recognition:
Leonardo da Vinci:
The Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo, a mysterious lady with a half-smile, the world’s most adorable face and one of the gems of art history.
The extensive mural painting, the Last Supper, featuring the last meal of Jesus Christ with his disciples, depicts their expressions and emotions minutely.
Sketches and elaborate drawings, plans and blueprints for tanks, flying machines, submarines, etc.
Anatomical studies, in depth studies in botany and geology; intellectual interpretations about the human body and the natural world.
A huge number of sketches and drawings on innumerable subjects, some unfinished works, showing his greatest draftsmanship and mastery of artistic expressions.
Michelangelo:
Can anyone ignore the colossal paintings of Rome’s Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, as one of the immortal creations depicting the elaborate frescos from the Old Testament!
He created the Statue of David, the marvelously sculpted figure from a single marble block! This is one of the exquisite stone carvings of the Renaissance era.
Michelangelo’s elaborate artwork on the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the largest unsupported dome in the world with the divine paintings still evokes awe.
Think of the serene look of Virgin Mary in his sculpture Pietà, cradling Jesus after crucifixion.
Painting of the Second Coming of Jesus in the Last Judgment, one of the biggest and most intricate murals ever made by him on the Sistine Chapel's altar wall.
Public Spat of the Luminaries: An Encounter
There are some anecdotes and stories of their mutual unrest spilling in public. Once Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were passing each other and were confronted by a group of men in the street. They asked Leonardo to comment on a passage from Dante’s Inferno, to which he didn’t respond and Michelangelo made some sarcastic remarks about his silence. This deepened the tension further.
A Shared Fate of Human Fragility: To Err is Human
‘It is not enough for a man to know how to work; he must know how to finish.’ - Vasari
This suits Leonardo who was truly a master artist abandoning his works more frequently in contrast to Michelangelo. Their unfinished artistic divide and apathy became a part of the Renaissance narrative and art history forever. As both were geniuses of the great era, there were some shared human fragility and flaws between them in terms of their ambitions, bulging ego, and craving for perfection. That way, both were human in their approaches with the insecurity and the restlessness that were very much intrinsic to an era of boundless creativity and insane competitions.
Final Words on the Legacy of Rivalry
Even though Michelangelo and Leonardo shared a complex relationship, their professional rivalry in a way helped the Renaissance art flourish. They had established new standards, used technical innovations in art, and produced masterpieces that now serve as landmarks for Western art and aesthetics. They both were versatile and brilliant in their own ways contributing to the artistic landscape of the Renaissance. Despite their mutual differences and disagreements, their works continue to influence the artists, painters, sculptors, thinkers, and art lovers of all times.
Their tense dynamic reminds us that creativity may thrive in competitive scenarios. The classic conflict shows the duality of science versus divinity, intelligence versus passion, and elegance versus intensity as the human soul is capable of breeding bitterness as well as brilliance. These two iconic creators unwittingly immortalized one another in their mutual scorn and fascination, shaping art history of a golden era!
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