Old Masters Academy

How to paint like the Old Masters using modern materials

Art Articles

Old Masters Academy Art Articles

Get the Old Masters Academy™ course free of charge by writing articles about fine art!

Submit Your Art Articles here »

1 Comment

Rivalry between Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo

by Rosily Roberts

…The rivalry between the two great masters began in the early sixteenth century, when both Leonardo and Michelangelo were hired to paint vast battle scenes on the same wall of the Council Hall in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. The two artists were in direct competition as they each completed their commission. At the time of the commission, in 1503, Leonardo was in his early 50s, and was well known throughout Europe. He was commissioned to paint a huge wall painting of The Battle of Anghiari, a scene from the recent wars between Florence and Milan. Then, just a year later, Michelangelo, aged only twenty-nine and something of a prodigy, was commissioned to paint The Battle of Cascina, a fourteenth century conflict between Florence and Pisa, on the same wall. This commission came months after Michelangelo’s David, arguably still the world’s most recognisable sculpture, was unveiled in Florence. Despite his fame, Leonardo now had a rival. …

Leave a Comment

Faked sculpture made by Michelangelo

by Rosily Roberts

…There are no other known forgeries by Michelangelo in existence, however he was involved with the restoration of the famous Laocoön statue, a Hellenistic marble statue that was discovered in Rome in 1506. There has since been speculation from art historians and critics that the statue might have indeed been another of Michelangelo’s forgeries, however this claim has never been proven.

What has been proven is Michelangelo’s skill and flair, particularly when mimicking the works of the ancient Greek masters, and it was this that allowed his career to flourish and his art to remain in such an important and crucial position in the history of Western art. …

Leave a Comment

Rubens’s copies of old masters

by Rosily Roberts

…Rubens used a similar treatment in his copy of Titian’s Adam and Eve, which was made during his same trip to Spain. In Titian’s work, Eve is shown accepting the apple from the devil, who is half child and half serpent, while Adam feebly tries to stop her.
In keeping with his own concept of painting, he made significant changes to the original, including a more intense palette. He altered Adam’s posture and made him more muscular, in accordance with his interest in depicting the body as curvaceous. In fact, Rubens’ Adam was based on the sculpture of the Belvedere Torso in the Vatican Museum, another nod to classicism. Eve too is portrayed as fleshier and less smooth than Titian’s own original woman. Rubens has further heightened the drama of the scene by making Adam’s facial expression seem more shocked and alarmed by Eve’s actions. …

Leave a Comment

Leonardo’s relationship with his students and apprentices

by Rosily Roberts

… Francesco Melzi was, according to historian Vasari, a Milanese nobleman, who inherited many of Leonardo’s manuscripts, instruments, books and drawings. While Leonardo complemented his abilities as a painter, no known paintings by him survive. He has often been exalted as Leonardo’s favourite student, and Leonardo often praised him in letters.

Melzi is responsible for one of the few surviving portrait of Leonardo, which was most likely execute towards the end of his life. It is likely that this is the portrait of Leonardo that Vasari saw in Melzi’s house, and that later become the frontispiece for the Leonardo chapter in Vasari’s Lives of the Artists.

Leave a Comment

Leonardo da Vinci apprenticeship

by Rosily Roberts

… In 1472 Leonardo was accepted into the painters’ guild of Florence, however, he remained in his teacher’s workshop for five more years, before working independently in Florence until 1481. Many of his pen and pencil drawings exist from this period, as well as technical sketches, including pumps, military weapons and mechanical apparatus, evidencing his interest in and knowledge of technical matters, even early on in his career.

Some of Leonardo’s artistic concerns originate with Verocchio, such as the twisting pose known as the figura serpentinata and the study of contrasting expressions. …

2 Comments

Leonardo Da Vinci was no stranger to failure and rejection

by Rosily Roberts

…Leonardo’s Last Supper brought about a huge shift, not only in the genre of Last Supper paintings, but art in general. He imbued the scene with a movement, expression, drama and realism that had never been seen before. Unfortunately, Leonardo’s experimental painting technique was heavily flawed, and the pigment did not stick to the wall, resulting in the degradation of the image.

Leonardo always regarded himself as something of a failure. In 1490, he tried to get the commission to design a dome for the cathedral of Milan, but his plans were rejects, as were his plans for casting the bronze doors of a cathedral in Piacenza. Leonardo was no stranger to failure and rejection.