TASK 4: Renaissance

NRP FULL NAME

1. E11210071 Ardine Fincelia Kristina
2. E11210065 Michelle Liauw
3. E11210110 Michelle Ananta
4. E11210088 Jacqueline Salam
5. E11210017 Maeve Bridgette W
6. E11210054 Salvina A

QUESTION
In design work, who is superior: Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo? Explain your
reasons comparatively with a sharp analysis based on the data of their works, both ideas
and real works.

ANSWER (less than 500 words):

We chose Michelangelo because Michelangelo’s life and creative period as a sculptor,
painter and an architect, spans almost a century. His works are regarded among the greatest
masterpieces of Western Art. Historians tell us Michelangelo was a passionate, angry,
‘tortured artist’ who lived simply and sparingly and that those in his circle considered him
‘more divine than human’ Some of the monumental projects and challenges he undertook
were on a massive scale and he worked long hours, relentlessly and strenuously, almost
wearing his body out. Although Michelangelo expressed his genius through many mediums,
he always regarded himself as a sculptor first.

Cupola of Medici Chapel and tomb of Lorenzo de’ Medici, San Lorenzo, Florence

Michelangelo’s most famous art are the statue of David and the painting The creation
of Adam. An analysis of successive projects for the fagade reveals a progressive
simplification of the structure; the pedestal of the pilasters of the upper story is organically
linked to the building. On Giuliano da Sangallo' model for the project for the same building,
which was inspired by antique monuments, Michelangelo projected the massive attic story on
a ground level support of the light columns. In this way, he could create a bold relationship of
contrasting energies, of opposite rhythms where the tension of the structure is manifested in
the classic appearance of the whole.
Renaissance architecture is well known today because we can find it everywhere in
Western cities, but in Michelangelo’s time this architecture, consisting of columns, loggias
and arcades, was avant-garde and it was seen as a revolutionary break with the medieval
traditions.
 St Peter's Basilica

Besides the construction of this prestigious building, Michelangelo was to realize or

plan architectural works of lesser importance. Thus, in 1532, Clement VII asked the artist to
work on a gallery destined for the preservation of the relics for the church of San Lorenzo,
and as we have seen, Michelangelo was for a time occupied with the realization of Florentine
fortifications against the risk of invasion.
These fortifications change from top to bottom the data for these specific
constructions as we restore the plans preserved at the Casa Buonarroti. For the first time, the
builder thinks as much about defense as offense, from the interior towards the exterior,
achieved by spaces with a clear view, placed between the bastions in the form of pliers or
claws which enclose the uncovered areas. As de Tolnay noted, the plans for the fortifications
would have a decided influence on one of the greatest architects of strategic construction,
Vauban.