Renaissance Art

Various Renaissance artists in the 15th century introduced a new era of painting and sculpture by using two new artistic techniques.   These two unique techniques gave these artists an advantage by the use of shading, which made objects and persons appear more natural.   They also adjusted the size of people to make them seem more realistic.   These skills allowed their artwork to come alive.
One such artist who exemplified these characteristics was Leonardo da Vinci.   Leonardo was born in the year 1452 and died in 1519. He was known as one of the greatest painters of all time and exhibited the Renaissance ideal of the universal person. Leonardo also supported scientific experimentation, learned anatomy by dissecting corpses, and was a self- taught botanist. In his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, his great skill in conveying inner moods through complex facial expression was apparent.
A second artist was the kind and sensitive Raphael. Raphael was born in the year 1483 and died in 1520.   Raphael was most famous for his tender madonnas and the great fresco in the Vatican. The School of Athens was virtually a perfect example of Renaissance technique. It depicts Plato and Aristotle surrounded by other great philosophers and scientists.
Michelangelo Buonarroti, the melancholy genius, excelled in many different arts and crafts. Michelangelo was born in 1475 and died in 1564. Michelangelo’s eighteen- foot sculpture of David, which stood in the great square of Florence, is a perfect example of Renaissance devotion to harmony, symmetry, and proportion, all serving the glorification of the human form. The most important fresco out of the four popes that asked him to sculpt or paint was the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel was painted under Pope Julius II, who also set Michelangelo to work on his own tomb. Michelangelo’s later works were more complex and showed deep personal changes.  
In conclusion, these Renaissance artists transformed their artwork...