From top to bottom, "Mona Lisa" ca. 1503–04, by Leonardo da Vinci (Louvre, Paris) and "The Pieta" 1499, by Michelangelo (St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome)
Leonardo and Michelangelo. These towering geniuses of Western art grew up in the same city, shared the same patrons, and also shared an intense dislike—for each other. But their fraught relationship was fueled by a secret fascination and a fierce competition that spurred them—and their contemporaries—to new levels of artistic achievement.
In a richly illustrated daylong program, art historian Nigel McGilchrist depicts the two artists as perfectionists and brilliant craftsmen who revolutionized the received methods of painting and sculpting for all time.
9:30–10:45 a.m. The Consequences of Competition
Two ways of confronting the same world: Leonardo as the observer and Michelangelo as the idealist. The Florentine environment, and early works that hint at even greater things: Leonardo’s Annunciation and Michelangelo’s David.
11 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Techniques and Conservation
Leonardo’s search for the ultimate paint medium. Michelangelo as sculptor in painting, and draughtsman in stone. The problems inherent in conservation of the Sistine Chapel frescoes, and of Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Their influence on later European painting, compared with that of Titian.
12:15–1:30 p.m. Lunch (participants provide their own)
1:30–2:45 p.m. Obsessions and Recurring Themes
Two ideals of beauty contrasted: Michelangelo’s depiction of death in the Pietà sculptures and Sistine Chapel frescoes Last Judgment and Entombment; Leonardo and the female face in Ginevra de Benci, Mona Lisa, and other works.
3–4:15 p.m. Writings, Dreams, and Nightmares
Leonardo’s Notebooks, and Michelangelo’s Sonnets and letters. The legacies of two minds with opposing views on science, religion, and the burning issues of the Renaissance.
McGilchrist taught at the University of Rome, worked for the Italian Ministry of Arts in the field of conservation wall paintings, and established the Anglo-Italian Institute in Rome.
World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1 credit
