Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence c. 1504

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519 ) - The Virgin and Child with St Anne and the Infant St John the Baptist ('The Burlington House Cartoon'), c.1506-08

 

A small, well curated exhibition this, pitting the three Renaissance era titans of western art against each other. The year was 1504, and in Florence a committee of the most prominent artists had gathered to decide on a location for Michelangelo's David sculpture. One of these artists was Leonardo da Vinci who had recently returned to Florence. This exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts investigates the rivalry between Leonardo and Michelangelo, how each studied and copied from each others art, as well the influence they exerted on the younger Raphael, as all three competed for commissions from Florence's most important patrons. Michelangelo's Taddei Tondo, his sole marble sculpture in the UK, dominates the opening of the exhibition surrounded by preparatory drawings. This work is owned by the RA and was created at the time when all three artists were present in Florence. We see just what an impact this relief by Michelangelo had on Raphael in two of his beautiful paintings, The Bridgewater Madonna, and The Esterházy Madonna, both on loan and exhibited nearby in which he takes the Michelangelo's motif of the Christ child twisting his body on the Virgin's lap to give a sense of dynamism and movement to the composition in his Bridgewater Madonna painting. Leonardo is represented in the middle of the exhibition by his large, gorgeously ethereal drawing The Virgin and Child with St Anne and the Infant St John the Baptist, ('The Burlington House Cartoon'), given the honour of a room all to itself. It is a dark, and serene mystery. A marvel of chiaroscuro, so sensational that Giorgio Vasari tells us crowds queued for days to see it when it was first exhibited. It certainly elicited hushed crowds looking on in reverence on my visit. These large works aside, the exhibition is made up of a good amount of drawings and sketches emphasising the importance of the discipline and exercise of drawing on all three artists. They used drawing as a means for investigation, working out compositional details and recording the body and the alignment of muscle and bone in life drawing poses, as well as copying from other artists for an understanding of their methods and thought processes. The exhibition culminates with drawings showcasing the mythic encounter between Leonardo and Michelangelo. In 1503, the Government of Florence had commissioned Leonardo to paint a monumental mural, the Battle of Anghiari, in its newly constructed council hall. In late August or early September 1504, around the time Michelangelo’s David was installed on the ringhiera in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, Michelangelo was asked to paint the accompanying Battle of Cascina. Neither project was ever completed, but the exhibition brings together Leonardo and Michelangelo’s much-admired preparatory drawings from various collections across Europe, including an important group lent by His Majesty The King from the Royal Collection, providing a fascinating insight into the approach of both artists as they developed their compositions. The exhibition concludes with a drawing by Raphael, c. 1505-06 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford), in which he painstakingly copies the central scene of Leonardo’s Battle of Anghiari. This exhibition is was a nice taster for a planned visit to Milan in which I discovered more Renaissance era gems, more on which in future posts.

Michelangelo Buonarroti - An Old Man Wearing a Hat ('The Philosopher') c.1490-94

Michelangelo Buonarroti - A Kneeling Man Seen From Behind c.1490-94

Michelangelo Buonarroti - Male Nude c. 1504-05

Michelangelo Buonarroti - The Virgin and the Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist ('The Taddei Tondo') c. 1504-05

Michelangelo Buonarroti - The Virgin and Child c.1504-05

Piero di Cosimo (1462-1522) - The Virgin and the Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist c. 1490-1500

Raphael - Studies for a Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist c.1505

Raphael - The Bridgewater Madonna c.1507-08

Raphael - Studies for a Virgin and Child c.1505-07

Raphael - Study for a Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist c.1505-06

Raphael - The Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist (The Esterházy Madonna c.1508

Raphael - The Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist and a Lamb c.1508

Raphael, after Leonardo da Vinci - Leda and the Swan c.1505-08

Raphael, after Michelangelo Buonarroti - David c.1505-08

Michelangelo Buonarroti - Studies for the Infant St. John the Baptist 1504-05

Leonardo da Vinci - The Virgin and Child with St Anne and the Infant St John the Baptist ('The Burlington House Cartoon'), c.1506-08

Michelangelo Buonarroti - Male Nude Seen from Behind c. 1504-06

Michelangelo Buonarroti - Seated Male Nude 1504-06

Michelangelo Buonarroti - Male Nude 1504-06

Leonardo da Vinci - Legs of a Male Nude c.1504-06

Leonardo da Vinci - Head of Horse c.1503-05

Leonardo da Vinci - A Rearing Horse, and Heads of Horses, A Lion and a Man c.1503-05

Leonardo da Vinci - A Rearing Horse c1503-05

Leonardo da Vinci - Horse and Rider, and Studies for Leda and the Swan c. 1503-05

Leonardo da Vinci - Horses and Soldiers, and Angel of the Annunciation c. 1503-05

Michelangelo Buonarroti - Study for St Matthew and Battle Scene c. 1503-05

Michelangelo Buonarroti - Head of a Solder in Profile Wearing a Winged Helmet, and Facial Features c. 1504-06

Leonardo da Vinci - Galloping Horses, and Foot Soldiers c. 1503-05

 Raphael - Two Male Nudes Seen from Behind c.1505

Raphael - Studies for the Trinity of San Severo, and Sketches after Leonardo c.1505-06

Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence ca. 1504

until 16th February 

Royal Academy of Arts

The Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries

Burlington Gardens

London

Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London

'It's 1985 so dress as though your life depends on it, or don't bother' - Leigh Bowery

Interest in the work of artist, stylist, fashion designer, dancer, model and muse Leigh Bowery is having something of a resurgence at the moment. There was a small but beautifully curated show in 2022 at the Fitzrovia Chapel, Leigh Bowery: Tell Them I've gone To Papua New Guinea (here), and in a few months an exhibition devoted to him opens at no less an institution than Tate Modern. This exhibition at Bermondsey's Fashion and Textile Museum captures the creativity, excitement and exuberance centred around the legendary TABOO nightclub in the 1980s. Leigh Bowery came to London from Australia aged 19. Like many others with the creative impulse, he was attracted to the capital by images he'd seen of London in the British press. Leigh and many of his circle started out in shared squats around Warren Street and the Camden area. These squats housed others including such names as Boy George and DJ Princess Julia as well as milliner Stephen Jones (here). These squats were hubs of the club scene. They were hives of collaboration, creativity and support housing several talented individuals, who despite their straitened circumstances and limited means would go on to make names for themselves in art, music and fashion. A fire in one of the squats meant that Leigh was rehoused in his own flat in Stepney. It was here that he was given the space to flourish and give full rein to his ideas and image. Bowery started Taboo in Leicester Square in January 1985, and although it only lasted for one year, the club immediately drew a young crowd of regulars known for their outrageous dress who felt like outsiders but here found similar kindred spirits. None was more outrageous than the ringmaster Bowery himself, and he soon began to feature in the very same press, (style bible magazines such as Blitz, The Face and ID) that held such allure for him. Interestingly the exhibition demonstrates that these magazines which all coincidentally launched in 1980 were staffed by the stylists, photographers, editors and designers all also at the beginnings of their careers, who would regularly frequent Taboo. Writing for The Face magazine Robert Elms was one of the first to identify the importance of club nights on the youth fashion in that period and promoted these through the magazine. Taboo very quickly became the most fashionable club in London with Leigh and his outrageous outfits grabbing much media attention. The club naturally attracted an 'arty' crowd. Grayson Perry was a regular attendee as was dancer Michael Clark whom Bowery would go on to design for and perform with. Bowery's costumes and extreme 'looks' would influence fashion designers such as Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano, all of whom were also regulars at Taboo. Taboo club goers were well aware of the power and impact of image. Many of the clothing designs were inspired of course by David Bowie and the performative aspects and attitude of glam rock. Performers such as Boy George and Pete Burns who attended Taboo watched Top of the Pops on a Thursday evenings as they grew up and were conscious of the influence of both Top of the Pops and MTV as a medium to promote youth culture and fashion designs which they would commission from designers they knew through the circles that attended Taboo. Another important aspect of the era and club culture promoted in the magazines were the markets which sold clothing such as Kensington Market on High Street Kensington. These markets were social exchanges where the youth would hang out and exchange information about the latest in what was happening. There was very much a DIY attitude and aesthetic as certain designers and their clients rejected mass produced clothing for a specific, edgier kind of look. These markets contained numerous stalls peopled by young designers who would recycle tribal looks such as goth, rockabilly, skinhead, punk etc. and remake these clothes into something different and unique for themselves and customers to wear to the clubs and hopefully be seen by, and appear in one of the style bibles. The exhibition abundantly displays many of the outrageous outfits of the period and it is great to see that so many of the items have survived in relatively good condition despite the nights of drinking and dancing they were put through. Clashing colours and patterns combined with unusual strong silhouettes looked to be very much the order of the day as you can see in the pictures below. Original early designs by Pam Hogg and John Galliano feature. This exhibition was a wonderful exercise in nostalgia for me personally, and it was accompanied with a fantastic period soundtrack playing in the background evoking memories of my own clubbing days in the 80s at the other end of the country in clubs such as Manchester's legendary Haçienda, and Liverpool's Bigmouth nightclub.

Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London

until 9th March 2025

Fashion and Textile Museum

83 Bermondsey Street

London

SE1