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