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W e would mislead ourselves, when we desired to gain insight into the motives and passions of a

representative artist of the Renaissance, should we turn to the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini whom

Petrarch would have considered wholly illiterate because Cellini used the ungrammatical speech and

slang of Florence.

W ith Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci we become aware of a constant preoccupation with the

mystery of life. There is something demoniac in their energy. The contrast in temperament between

Dante and Petrarch reappears in Michelangelo and Raphael. There is such a wide difference between

the psychology of the two men, that it is useless to open the old controversy as to which of the two

was the greater. In Raphael everything was sumptuous, in Michelangelo everything ascetic— if we

except certain sculpture done in his youth.

In our attempt to discover the temperamental differences between creators of Renaissance art we may

find some help in the story of Michelangelo's interview with Pope Julius II. after the Sistine Ceiling had

been painted. Julius looked up at the figures of the Prophets and complained that there was no

gold to be seen, Michelangelo's reply was a rebuke to the Pope. " These," he said, " are simple

people who do not wear golden garments." But Raphael used gold in abundance in his great fresco

of the " Disputa " and compared with the profusion of his style, the elder painter's work seems austere.

(Michelangelo 1475-1564)— (Raphael 1483-1520).

Indeed the contemporary criticism of Michelangelo's " Last Judgment " was that it lacked colour. He

had a horror of being flamboyant. When pressed to paint the roof of the Sistine he said that "paint

was not his art " and generously proposed Raphael in his stead. But when he noticed later that

Raphael and others were imitating him he pointed out the total diversity between his own conceptions

and theirs.

Raphael, a more subtle courtier, captivated the minds of his patrons and painted a portrait of Julius,

whom he also brought into the great fresco in the Staza d' Eliodoro, and became later the favourite of

the succeeding Pope Leo X. Michelangelo declared that all his troubles with Julius II. were the result

of the jealous intrigues of Raphael and Bramante, whom, nevertheless he had praised— and generously

at that. Whereas Raphael contributed to the amenities of the Papal Court of Leo by supervising

theatrical performances, Michelangelo forsook his brush and chisel in order to design and build the 407

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fortifications of Florence.

Perhaps the most impressive example of Michelangelo's power is the " David." The block had already

been spoiled by another sculptor, had lain idle for thirty-five years and had been offered to other artists

among whom was Leonardo da Vinci. It was feared that too much material had been chipped away.

Michaelangelo however attacked the problem. He used to say that a sculptor should carry a pair of

compasses in his mind, but the design had shaped itself so clearly in his imagination that he set to work

on the marble without having taken exact measurements, and created the superb statue which every

visitor to Florence has seen.

One of the characteristics of the many Renaissance artists was that they were able to exercise their genius

in more than one art. Raphael was an architect as well as a painter, and he wrote verse. Michelangelo

was a sculptor, poet, military engineer and one of the great Renaissance architects. At the age of

seventy-two he was appointed chief architect of St. Peter's and changed Bramante's design of the

dome.

The range of Leonardo da Vinci's interests was even wider. In his case, indeed, it is difficult to discover

whether his real interest lay in art at all. He was not only one of the supreme painters of his time,

but he was an original investigator of Nature. Both in her organic and inorganic forms. He appears

to have emancipated himself with an effort from mediaevalism. He left voluminous note books filled

with scientific observations. Like Michelangelo he dissected bodies for the purpose of increasing his

knowledge of anatomy, wrote his wonderful treatise on painting and another on the flight of birds,,

experimented in chemistry and in mechanical inventions. His insight into human character is indicated

by the famous portrait of " Mona Lisa," of which Pater's analysis is a little overwrought.

In his own character there was something veiled and impenetrable and he frequently withdrew from

Society in order to brood on the mysteries of Human Life. However, he took part in devised festivities

at the court of Ludorico Storza, where he spent sixteen years and for whom he painted "The Last Supper"

which even in its wreckage continues to impress all those who see it.

If was natural that Italy should be the scene of the resurrection of Graeco-Roman civilisation.

Throughout the Middle ages the Italians had remained conscious that the history of Rome was their

own early history, and Rome had been the heir of Greece. 409

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W e have already noticed that the men of the Renaissance often divided their energies and passed

easily from one art to another. Giotto was first a great fresco painter, but he also designed the

campanile of Florence. Donatello (1386-1466) the forerunner and in many respects the equal of

Michelangelo, executed the first clay statue and the first equestrian of the Renaissance but he also designed

a stained glass window which may still be seen in Florence Cathedral and for the Palace of his patron

Cosimo-de Medici, he made decorative medallions which were enlarged productions of antique gems.

A wave of beauty was passing over Italy and the private citizen began to share the desire to possess

objects of artistic value. For instance in the great Fontana pottery at Urbino the designs of Michelangelo,

Raphael and Perugino were used as patterns for the fine majolica ware for which Urbino, Faenza, Pesaro

and other cities became famous.

The stern strength of Donatello and Michelangelo was followed by the sentimental weakness of Bernini;

great and sincere painting by the theatricalities of a Guilio Romano or the false pathos of a Guido Reni.

There came the temptation to sacrifice everything for the Facade.

X X V The S.A. Architectural Record, November, 19^0.

Fredk. Sage & Co. (SA) Ltd.,'Reg. in England.)

P.O. Box 777. Tel. 22-7555. 10, Heidelberg Road JOHANNESBURG

South African Permanent Mutual Building & Investment

Society Johannesburg.

The whole of the Bronze Metal Grilles to the Main Entrance, Bronze Light Fittings and Name Panels flanking the Main Entrance, Facia Letters, Indicator Boards, etc., were fabricated in Johannesburg

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