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The Muralist Movement: Leonardo da Vinci’s Murals

About Leonardo da Vinci’s Mural

Undoubtedly, mural art is one of the most loved artworks of human history. Leonardo da Vinci is one of the Renaissance’s greatest painters. Da Vinci is known for continually testing artistic techniques and traditions. Leonardo da Vinci developed innovative compositions and investigated anatomy that accurately represented the human body. He incorporated the human psyche to bring out character. He experimented with various techniques, including space dimensional and three-dimension surfaces and a result of his curiosity was many unfinished projects. However, the same experiments influenced numerous art successors. His works were used as standards of representation in the centuries that followed. Leonardo left behind numerous books filled with sketches and jottings of some of his finished works at the time of his passing. Some of da Vinci’s paintings were completely destroyed, over painted, or lost. Described in this text are three of his mural arts, namely Mona Lisa (c. 1503-19), Last Supper (c. 1495-98), and Self Portrait (c. 1490/1515-16).

Images of the Mona Lisa, self-portrait, and the last supper

Mural Descriptions

Mona Lisa (c. 1503-19) remains one of the most renowned artworks of all time. Every year, the Mona Lisa drawing draws thousands of visitors from across the world to the Louvre Museum. They marvel at the sitter’s enigmatic smile and mysterious gaze. It is a seemingly ordinary portrait of a young woman dressed in somber colors, a thin veil, and without jewelry (West, 392). It makes viewers want to know what the fuss is all about. It showcases da Vinci’s skill and talent for realism. Last Supper (c. 1495-98) is also globally renowned. It depicts closely connected moments highlighted in the Bible in the Gospel of Matthew 26: 21-28. Da Vinci recreated the moment that Jesus declared to his disciples that one of them would betray him. It was during the last supper He instituted the Eucharist. The disciples’ postures seem to rise, extend, intertwine and fall as they appear to grieve, yell, and debate around Jesus as he sits serenely in the middle. The Self Portrait (c. 1490/1515-16) is a self-portrait. The drawing made out of red chalk is of an old man with a long bread and long wavy hair. The beard is positioned so that it looks like an extension of what most people think is Da Vinci’s face.

Critical Commentary

I selected the three portraits, including Mona Lisa, Last Supper, and the Self-portrait, as they appealed to me the most. In my viewpoint, out of all the known creations of Leonardo da Vinci, these three stood out the most. For instance, the self-portrait that is thought to be the face of da Vinci’ is rather captivating. The fact that he did not use a normal pencil, but red chalk makes the photo more intriguing. How can a person create such a beautiful painting of a face out of mere chalk? As for the last supper painting, I was drawn by the fact that da Vinci was able to bring out the body language and the emotions of the disciples as they discussed amongst each other who would betray their master. The technique that da Vinci employed to create this photo is also interesting. I selected the Mona Lisa painting because, before today, I did not have an idea that the painting was called the Mona Lisa painting. I found this interesting because this painting is familiar to me; I could tell that I had seen it before. Because of this, I wanted to know more about the history of the painting.

Comparing Leonardo da Vinci’s art to Michelangelo’s art

It is no doubt that both Leonardo and Michelangelo’s art were both exemplary artists. They, however had different approaches to art hence the notable differences in their art and mural work. The main notable difference is that da Vinci seemed to be interested in art because he loved art. He loved art for art’s sake. On the other hand, Michelangelo made art for his love for wealth. Secondly, Michelangelo turned specifically to sculpture and the skill of drawing. Michelangelo chose to get back to art to worship the human body. He was accurate about the human form, which made him come up with his own gods of beauty. On the other hand, da Vinci concentrated on the science behind his art. He was also quite essential in the Renaissance, as highlighted by his multi-faceted traits. Although da Vinci had a secular attitude toward science and art, he also tried to understand science’s role in the secular world (Verdiani, Angela, and Carmen, 26). Unique social and political influence made da Vinci combine both art and science.

Works Cited

Verdiani, Giorgio, Angela Mancuso, and Carmen Accursio. “Street Art and Landscape Art: Kobra’s homage to Michelangelo in Carrara.” DISEGNARECON 13.24 (2020): 26-1.

West, John B. “Leonardo da Vinci: engineer, bioengineer, anatomist, and artist.” American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology 312.3 (2017): L392-L397.