Renaissance Famous Artist

Michelangelo Buonarroti
1475-1564

Michelangelo Buonarroti lived between 1475-1564 and he was a sculptor, painter and architect widely considered to be one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance period. His work demonstrated a blend of psychological insight, physical realism and intensity. His contemporaries recognized his extraordinary talent, and Michelangelo received commissions from some of the most wealthy and powerful men of his time including the pope. His resulting work, most notably is Pietà and David sculptures and Sistine Chapel ceiling paintings, has been preserved, ensuring that future generations would be able to view and appreciate Michelangelo’s works.

Statue of David

Michelangelo was only 26 years old in 1501, but he was already the most famous and best paid artist in his days. He accepted the challenge with enthusiasm to sculpt a large scale David and worked constantly for over two years to create one of his most breathtaking masterpieces of gleaming white marble.

Pieta

In 1497, a cardinal named Jean de Billheres commissioned Michelangelo to create a work of sculpture to go into a side chapel at Old St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.  The resulting work – the Pieta – would be so successful that it helped launch Michelangelo’s career unlike any previous work he had done.

Sistine Chapel ceiling painting

Michelangelo painted 12 figures—seven prophets and five sibyls (female prophets of myth)—around the border of the ceiling, and filled the central space with scenes from Genesis. Critics suggest that the way Michelangelo depicts the prophet Ezekiel—as strong yet stressed, determined yet unsure—is symbolic of Michelangelo’s sensitivity to the intrinsic complexity of the human condition. The most famous Sistine Chapel ceiling painting is the emotion-infused The Creation of Adam, in which God and Adam outstretch their hands to one another.

Donatello
1386-1466

Born in Florence, Italy, around 1386, sculptor Donatello apprenticed early with well-known sculptors and quickly learned the Gothic style. Before he was 20, he was receiving commissions for his work. Over his career he developed a style of lifelike, highly emotional sculptures and a reputation second only to Michelangelo's. http://www.artble.com/artists/donatello

Gattamelata

One of the great works Donatello created while in Padua was the Gattamelata, the name of which means “honeyed cat”.  This funny-sounding name was the nickname of Erasmo da Narni, a condottiere (mercenary) who fought for Venice and is the person depicted riding the horse.  Normally, equestrian statues could legally only depict rulers, which Erasmo was not.  It is therefore likely that the Venetian Senate had to authorize the creation of this work by making an exception to its rule.  
http://www.italianrenaissance.org/donatellos-gattamelata/

                                                                                                        
Statue of St. Mark 
The statue of St. Mark was commissioned by the linen guild, one of the poorer guilds in Florence whose patron was St. Mark.  They decided to hire the sculptor Donatello for the commission, who created a larger than life-size work (it is 7’9” tall).  The work itself was placed into a niche that was already in existence in the building called Orsanmichele, and probably because this meant only the front would be visible, the back side of the statue was not completely carved. The result of Donatello’s work was profound, to say the least, as he revived the use of the contrapposto stance in freestanding sculpture.  Contrapposto had been employed by many ancient Greek and Roman sculptors, dating back to the Classical period of Greek art. http://www.italianrenaissance.org/donatellos-saint-mark/

Bronze Statue of David

Perhaps Donatello’s landmark work – and one of the greatest sculptural works of the early Renaissance – was his bronze statue of David.  This work signals the return of the nude sculpture in the round figure, and because it was the first such work like this in over a thousand years, it is one of the most important works in the history of western art. The work was commissioned by Cosimo de’Medici for the Palazzo Medici, but we do not know when during the mid-fifteenth century Donatello cast it.  It was originally placed on top of a pedestal in the center of the courtyard in the Palazzo Medici. 

http://www.italianrenaissance.org/donatellos-david/

Leonardo da Vinci 
1452-1519

Born on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci was concerned with the laws of science and nature, which greatly informed his work as a painter, sculptor, inventor and draftsman. His ideas and body of work—which includes "Virgin of the Rocks," "The Last Supper," "Leda and the Swan" and "Mona Lisa"—have influenced countless artists and made da Vinci a leading light of the Italian Renaissance. Da Vinci has been called a genius and the archetypal Renaissance man. His talents inarguably extended far beyond his artistic works. Like many leaders of Renaissance humanism, he did not see a divide between science and art.
www.biography.com/people/leonardo-da-vinci-40396

                                 
                                                                                                                          
  Mona Lisa
Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa is one of the most famous and most celebrated works of all time. The mastery of the painting lies in its subtle detail, including the faint smile, and Mona Lisa's distinctive gaze. The work is said to have been commissioned by a gentleman named Francesco del Giocondo, who hired Leonardo to paint a portrait of his wife, and this is why The Mona Lisa is sometimes referred to as La Gioconda. While this is a theory on the origination of the painting, scholars have disagreed throughout the ages about how factual this story really is. Mona LisaThe Mona Lisa, aside from being one of the most recognized works in the history of art, is also one of the most widely reproduced works ever.  www.davincilife.com/monalisa.html

Last Supper

The subject of the Last Supper is Christ’s final meal with his apostles before Judas identifies Christ to the authorities who arrest him. The Last Supper (a Passover Seder). Leonardo is expressing, the desire that has entered the minds of the apostles to know who is betraying their Master. So in the face of each one may be seen love, fear, indignation, or grief at not being able to understand the meaning of Christ.
 https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation

Vitruvian Man

Vitruvian Man is perhaps Leonardo da Vinci's most famous illustration. In this work, Leonardo used both image and text to express the ideas and theories of Vitruvius, a first century Roman architect and author of 'De Architectura libri X'. The Vitruvian ideas, presented by Leonardo, formed the basis of Renaissance proportion theories in art and architecture.

http://www.davincilife.com/vitruvianman.html

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