The Best coin ever spent

Thought everyone would enjoy this:)

Artistic Theory: Blunt

Both Leonardo and Michelangelo are both great successors to the scientific tradition of Florentine painting (starting from the late 1400's to the early 1600's); but also affected by the atmosphere of Neoplatonism, justifying the period of Platonic philosophy in which they grew up around. 

Leonardo's strength lies in actual observation of multiple experiences, and has given little action to deducing general laws from his observations. Painting as a science for Leonardo, which involves such a foundation of mathematical perspective, a study of nature itself and depends on various facts; including first all the senses, secondly not to rely wholly on the eye but to use proper judgment by using actual measurements, and thirdly understanding that painting is based on the principles of geometry. His immense interest on science pairs well with nature, which makes his work well known for the enormous time spent focusing on every detail displaying such comfortable landscapes each symbolic figure is pampered within. With such a strong ground work, Leonardo never encourages free play to his imagination, but what originates must have the exact rationalization and justification. Even if the pictorial scene doesn't prevail correctly, it should still appear to the viewer as if it could really exist. Aside from painting, sculpting was another alternative, although Leonardo claims excellent dominance for painting over sculpture. The process of sculpting ultimately cannot use color, ariel perspective, or illustrate transparent bodies, clouds, storms, etc.; which in fact are key factors which involve such a foundation for Leonardos work. Painting is considered to be the king of science, meaning the process must be checked by rational judgement at each individual stage. I find it interesting to discover that Leonardo does listen to the opinions of others about his paintings, ready to hear their comments with an open mind and patience; although keeping in mind that these bystanders will try and blame, or correct his work, and if so not to understand their reasoning for his mistakes. 

In one ear and out the other.

Michelangelo on the other hand was prone to a higher dedication involving beauty rather that to scientific truth. He perceives the fulfillment of beauty depended in large part on the knowledge of nature. Early on Michelangelo possesses a strong emotional and physical affection/passion for writing his very own romantic love poems that were conclusively directed towards visible beauty more than spiritual beauty. Scientifically he studied nature throughout the lifespan in his main groundwork. Opposite of Leonardos imagination, Michelangelo believes the means of imagination of the artist attains to a beauty above that of landscape nature. Beauty is the reflection of heavenly eternity in a material world, by rendering what in actual life is a beautiful body; appearing nude, heavy and lumpish, with thick limbs that are not at all elegant and graceful. Nature of the beautiful body. The beginning to an important new life approach for Michelangelo was creating The Last Judgment, which also came from his various writings. This became the dawn of Religious Art. Additionally, Michelangelo would also work with sculpture, but viewing this process in a more enjoyable unique approach rather than Leonardo. He gives a different life to a statue by executing a block of marble or stone, by cutting away from it until it reveals or declares the figural state within it. In other words, all the sculpture has done by carving his statue is discover his idea. 

I think we can agree and expose Michelangelo to be a hopeless romantic.?

Popes: Saints or Sinners?

Erasmus new testament  traveled all over europe. One of his contemporaries was Martin Luther, who was one of the doubters of this new testament; he was a viewer of the old testament attending a German University. 

"A devout monk he had anguished over his own sinfulness and coward over the anger of a ritetous god". 

release came fom a phrase by St. Paul that says "the riotous shall live by faith". Salvation; Luther concluded, came from simple trust in God. 

"If faith alone saved; the paraphernalia of popular religion was a bunch of junk". 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tH7AeUG5w

"Rome Reborn"

Petrarch was a scholar of Aretine (Arezzo), a commune in Central Italy that provides a administrative divsion pertaining to the basic civil functions; and also one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch was often called the "Father of Humanism", who sought to create a citizenry able to speak and write with clarity. During the mid-fifteenth century, visitors saw Petrarch destructive, describing the various city buildings to be toppled with broken statues and a miserable population who developed their homes in the imperial ruins. The humanists' thought of the ruined fragments, columns and statues to be individual secret codes of perfect proportion based on harmony with the human body itself; ideal representations of the human form. I guess you can say the citizenry wasn't able to engage in the civic life properly. 

crucifix speaking, "rebuild my church".

Later on... The fifteenth century began to progress into the sixteenth century, and a great economical standing begins to improve!... substantially because of the huge increase of investments and sums of money dedicated to improve the city. Close to the end of the sixteenth century, construction became the city's prime industry, consuming of multiple army collaborations of architects, sculptors, painters, masons, stonecutters, blacksmiths, woodworkers, rope makers and plasterers. By this time Petrarch and his fellow humanistic friends were compelled to work as well to live well. 

A huge foundation that was born for "Rome Reborn" was the attempt to build the Vatican Library. In 1451, Pop Nicholas V conceives of the library for the "convince of the learned" and the Vatican library was born. At this time his collection acquired about 1,160 books. By 1475 Pope Sixtus IV actually brings the library to life by installing the collection of books in a suite of rooms, including Greek authors, like the Egyptian Jewish Neoplatonist Philo of Alexandria, and also translated from Greek to Latin offering the avaiablity to a greater number of readers. 

Well you can't have a library without a librarian so... Sixtus awards Bartolomeo Platina as the Vatican's first librarian, who contributed his own massive series of "Lives of Jesus Christ and the Popes", which he took full advantage to ensure severe criticism towards Pope Paul II as a monster for all posterity. 

Ultimately there were 3,500 entries that were recorded by 1481, showing the library was growing enormously, acquiring collections without restrictions pertaining to the reader's religious or other views. The Vatican Library was considered the greatest in Europe and still is today.