Art, the visual and culture - Essay Example

Michelangelo vs. Da Vinci Introduction Michelangelo Buonarroti and Leonardo Da Vinci are arguably the most famous artists of all times. Their works date back to five hundred years ago, and people still pay much money to go see their fascinating pieces of artwork. The two artists, though arguably the most famous, have different styles in their work. The article is going to compare and to contrast the works of the two artists to see how different their work was from each other.Comparison and ContrastMichelangelo’s David and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa are the most famous forms of art to date.

The artworks dated five hundred years ago. The Mona Lisa is a piece of work of a woman who is sitting and smiling, and it is the complete opposite of David, a man standing and grinning. Experts suggest that the two pieces of artwork are not a coincidence since they were both created at the same time with two men that were both living in Italy. The two artists were great rivals, and there still are endless debates who between the two was the greatest artist. The Mona Lisa is a painting while David is a chiseled work.

The tools that were used to make David were hammers and chisels, files and rasps (Jones, 2010). The block of stone was from a quarry, and it had been left “badly begun” for over forty years. The outline of the artwork David is that of a shape drawing. One would think Michelangelo had drawn the outline of the sculpture before he started working on it. The face is almost turned 90° with a perfect triangle nose. The body proportion of the artwork is mathematically perfect. The hair is perfect, flying with the wind.

The body of David is perfect with toned arms that have muscles (Jones, 2010). The statue of David is twice as tall as the height of an average man. A great piece of art.Mona Lisa is a painting that dwells in a thick picture atmosphere. Looking at the image, one would think has a suspense in a tinted liquid. The art is powerful because of its strange and universally accepted landscape (Jones, 2010). The art feels like a conclusion to the nature of life on earth. The painting has shadows, and the dark that is used to deepen her features are very bold.

The effect of the shade is to diminish the distance between the background and the foreground. The shadows draw back Mona Lisa while the colors in the background bring the landscape closer to the viewer. The portrait cannot only have an interpretation as a woman with a landscape background, but the whole artwork is Mona Lisa’s lifestyle. Da Vinci spends a lot of his time on the artwork, and he did it until his final years on earth.ConclusionThere was a debate since the 16th Century on who had a better form of art between Michelangelo and Da Vinci.

The debate was settled with a competition where Michelangelo won and thus decorated Italy. Da Vinci had to leave with his painting. It was a glamorous defeat as the piece of art has been celebrated until now. Michelangelo’s piece of work, David, is also celebrated to this day.ReferencesJones, J. (2010). Leonardo or Michelangelo: who is the greatest? Journal on the Guardian Newspaper.