One city, three great artists: Reuniting Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael
A London exhibition shows how the three painters circled one another as rivals and role models in 16th-century Florence
WE ALL know what they say about imitation and flattery, in art as in life. Things were no different in Florence during the early 16th century, when three artists who would become known as the brightest stars of the Italian Renaissance brought a brief flurry of activity – rivalry, camaraderie, innovation – to the city that was changing rapidly under new political leadership after six decades of Medici family rule.
In the exhibition “Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael” at the Royal Academy in London, which runs till Feb 16, a subtle dance of influence between the three men is traced through three rooms of paintings and sculptures, but predominantly drawings – a medium of experimentation, study and process.
The story begins in 1504, a pivotal year when Florentine officials and the recently elected head of the city government, Piero Soderini, were deeply invested in representing the fresh and independent attitude of a new era through art.
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