Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, artistic geniuses of the Florentine high renaissance era, were rumored to have a passionate aversion towards one another. Piero Soderini would challenge the two artists to paint frescos that would represent the most famous battles fought in Florence. Da Vinci would paint the Battle of Anghiari while Michelangelo was tasked with painting the Battle of Cascina. Both artists would eventually abandon the contest because Michelangelo was not interested in painting a fresco while Da Vinci became frustrated with his attempt at encaustic painting. However, despite their differences, what was unique about the artistic process of both men was that they left behind a series of sketches that would showcase the evolution of some of their greatest works. Although the end result of their works might’ve been different from one another their starting point was remarkably similar in it took a pen and pad to form a masterpiece.
Da Vinci would record ideas for paintings in his sketches as well as use his drawings in order to better understand complicated subject matters. In his Studies for the Nativity sketch, Leonardo documented different gestures of mothers with their infants in preparation for his Virgin of the Rocks altarpiece. The Virgin of the Rocks altarpiece mimics the mother’s loving placement of her outstretched arms over her young in Da Vinci’s Studies for the Nativity sketch. In his most famous sketch, the Vitruvian man, Da Vinci explores the proportions of the human body according to the findings of famed architect, Marcus Vitruvius. The Vitruvian man utilizes both text and images to express the theories of Vitruvius. Da Vinci’s illustration is an ink drawing of a nude male figure whose limbs are outstretched towards the edges of a square that falls within a circle. This powerful and commanding image is an embodiment of Vitruvius’ ideas on human proportion in relation to architecture. A Vinci utilized the power of the pen to sort through topics difficult to explain and through his own entanglement of ingenious ideas.
Michelangelo used the medium of drawings as a gateway to what would become his masterpieces. These sketches represented the initial stages of Michelangelo’s artistic process, which is made evident by how his finished worked closely; mimic his smaller, incomplete sketches. In his sketch entitled Study for Adam, Michelangelo focuses on the study of the torso. By drawing a male figure without a head, an unfinished arm, and a muscularly defined leg, Michelangelo explores the movement of the body and muscle definition. In the drawing, one can see that the figures hand is drawn multiple times as Michelangelo attempts to perfect its position. This sketch was used in preparation for the painting of Adam on the Sistine Chapel. Similarly, Michelangelo’s Head of an Ideal Woman is a study of the head of a woman who appears to be of great status and wealth. The detail that is given to her hair and her beautifully ordained helmet, however, suggest that it could’ve been an attempt at a completed work of art. Like Da Vinci, Michelangelo unraveled his ideas with the help of chalk paper and an inkwell.
- “Archive: Michelangelo.” British Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 July 2016.
- “The Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci.” The Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 July 2016.
