Leonardo da Vinci is quite a legend here in Italy, as he is in most of the world. In Paris we saw the Mona Lisa and it was quite an ordeal just to get close enough to see it. We also saw a number of his works during our three weeks and most post museum shops have books or posters about him. He's known as the genius; artist and scientist and great ones at that. His place in history is secure.
Michaelangelo, is also brilliant. Today we a little sculpture.
It's pretty awesome. Hadnt really appreciated sculptures before but this was really quite something. I think most other sculptures will be anti-climatic now, which means this may be the end my sculpture watching career. Even though Miggy was a sculptor, they asked him to paint a chapel. Apparently he was insulted (?) as he should have been known as a sculptor. Painting was an art form he had not practiced in years. So after accepting the request from the pope, Miggy paints a ceiling in seclusion, keeping his work a secret, and ends up with a masterpiece. Wasn't allowed to take any pictures. Fuji owns the photographic rights to the ceiling.
Rafael was a gifted painter in his own right and was a contemporary of Michaelangelo. From what I remember during the tour of the Vatican, he was at the time, more of a celebrity than Miggy was because of his painting. He died at 37 though due to too many relations. Miggy surpassed him in accolades as he lived a long life and produced many works.
But what about Donatello?
The only thing I found was a statue of him in Florence.
I'm sure he was great, but doesn't seem to fit with the other three: Leo, Miggy and Rafa.
Seems to me as though maybe three ninja turtles would have been enough. Who would have wanted to be named after the perceived lesser genius anyways?
It's like, these are my children: Isaac, Aristotle, Galileo and Tim. One doesn't seem to fit. (No offense to any Tim by the way.)
- L.P
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