Michelangelo vs. Leonardo da Vinci

            In the 13th century were born 2 very important artists that changed the world. They made a change in the renaissance by doing paintings and big sculptures. It was said that these artists “intensely” hated each other. Whether they hated each other or not one of them studied the other and got ideas from him. In other words one copied from the other. These two artist’s names were Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Leonardo was born April 15, 1452 in Florence. He died at a very young age of 67 on May 2, 1519. Michelangelo was born later on in the century on March 16 1475. He was younger than Leonardo, but lived longer up until the age of 88. Michelangelo copied from Leonardo and this is why they didn’t like each other. They finally decided to have a painting showdown. The mayor of Florence asked them both to paint a picture on the Town hall wall. They both were to paint part of the history in Florence. Neither of the artists could look into each others work. Out of the two artists Michelangelo was probably more worried since he couldn’t copy from anything. Michelangelo was more of a sculptor than a painter which made him even more worried. Now stop reading and try to make a prediction of who won the paint off. Neither of the artists did. Michelangelo never finished his and Leonardo ruined his when he was done. Michelangelo chose to paint a scene from the battle between the Florentines and Pisans. In the painting he shows the soldiers bathing in the Arno river when the soldiers where called to battle and quickly had to get dressed into their armor. Leonardo painted cavalry skirmish from another battle. In his painting it is hard to tell which the good or bad guy is. Everybody in the painting is put together and it looks like they’re all fighting each other. These paintings were finished by other people. If you think this is getting boring, then you can stop reading, but you’ll miss facts about Leonardo and Michelangelo in their own separate paragraphs.

            Leonardo’s full name was Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci. He was not only a painter, but he was also an Italian polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. Leonardo was born April 14, 1452. Shortly after his birth his father took custody of him, while his mother got married to another man. His parents kept on having kids and supplied him with a total of about 8 sisters and 9 brothers. At about the age of 15 his father was teaching him how to paint. Even as an apprentice Leonardo demonstrated his colossal talent. He worked in Verrocchio’s from about 1470-1475. Through this period of time many great masterpieces where produced from Verrocchio’s workshop made by Leonardo. Verrocchio thought Leonardo was doing so well in painting that he would quit and give the workshop to Leonardo. Leonardo worked in the workshop for two more years. Then he set up a shingle for himself. In 1482 he entered the service of Duke Milan. He spent 17 years in Milan until Duke Ludvigo Sforza fell from power in 1499. It was in these years that Leonardo hit the peak of his artistic and scientific achievements. The duke kept Leonardo busy with paintings, sculptures and designs for elaborate court festivals. The duke also wanted Leonardo to design weapons, buildings and other machinery. From 1485 to 1490 he was designing everything from churches to fortresses. His studies from this period also contained designs of weapons such as a tank and other war vehicles. During this period Leonardo did his first anatomical studies. Through 17 years he only completed six works from which are “The Last Supper” and “The Virgin on the Rocks”. He spent most of his time focusing on science. He went out into the wild and studied nature or he locked himself up in his workshop and was cutting up bodies to study the inside of the human. From 1513 to 1516, he worked in Rome, maintaining a workshop and undertaking a variety of projects for the Pope. He continued his studies of human anatomy and physiology, but the Pope forbade him from dissecting cadavers, which truly cramped his style. He died in France on May 2, 1519. Legend says that the king of France was at his side when he died.