Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Virgin and Child with the Infant St John the Baptist (‘The Taddei Tondo'), c. 1504-05. Royal Academy of Arts, London.
At the turn of the 16th century, three titans of the Italian Renaissance – Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Raphael (1482-1520) – briefly crossed paths, competing for the attention of the most powerful patrons in Republican Florence.
In 1504 Michelangelo finished his marble David and Leonardo took part in the discussions to decide where it should go. Later that year Raphael arrived in Florence, where his work was transformed by the influence of the two feuding masters. ARTscapades’ special two-part study course with Dr Richard Stemp explores how this explosive combination of events and personalities is reflected in the Royal Academy’s landmark exhibition opening on 9 November.
Includes two lectures, Q&A and a short break. Tickets £20
Part One of ARTscapades’ short course will be dedicated to the two older masters in this unparallelled triumvirate, with the first and second talks featuring the works of Michelangelo and Leonardo respectively. For each artist we examine the works in the exhibition in depth, putting them in the context of the artist’s career as a whole.
Lecture One: Starting with Michelangelo, and the Royal Academy’s own Taddei Tondo – the only marble sculpture by the great master in the UK – we go on to discover how drawing was essential to his development as an artist, whether as a painter, sculptor or architect. In particular, we focus on his studies for his planned fresco of The Battle of Cascina, the first occasion on which he was deliberately pitted against Leonardo.
Lecture Two: The main work by Leonardo in the exhibition will be the National Gallery’s Burlington Cartoon – which is effectively returning to the location from which it takes its name, and we will also consider his incompleted battle scene – a mural of The Battle of Anghiari. We will see that, for Leonardo, as well as being fundamental to his art, it was also an essential aspect of his groundbreaking scientific exploration.
To book for Part Two of SHORT COURSE Silk Roads: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence c. 1504 please click here.
The Exhibition Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence c. 1504 is at the Royal Academy of Arts from 9 November 2024 to 16 February 2025.
Proceeds from ARTscapades ticket sales benefit museums, galleries and other arts-based organisations and projects.
This is an online event hosted on Zoom which can be watched live, or on-demand for one month afterwards. You will receive your link to access the event in your email confirmation and the on-demand link after the event ends.