Overview
Soon the styles of realism and of worldly imitation were mastered and artists were ready to take on newer grander challenges. During the High Renaissance the artists began using, "individualistic forms of creative expression." While there were many artists who took on this new form of art and no doubt succeeded there are three major artists who are remembered today for their work in the High Renaissance; Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Raphael (1483-1520), and Michelangelo (1475-1564).
Leonardo da Vinci was not only an artist, but also a sort of scientist. He was constantly curious about nature and how things work. He conducted directions, which he diagramed with detail. He was also an engineer and created many different types of machines including war machines and the first tank. He was considered a polymath, but was above all else a painter. While he was curious as to how things worked he did believe in moving from the mimicking of nature and the realism of the Early Renaissance, and instead moved towards the depiction of the perfect nature. In his painting the Last Supper Leonardo displays perfect perspective. Nothing about it is really wrong. Of course it likely wouldn't look like this in real life, but it was what Leonardo believed should be depicted. Not nature itself, but how it should be.
Raphael is famous as a painter, but is specifically important to the High Renaissance because he continued on the ideas of Leonardo. He believed in the perfection of nature. More specifically than that he believed in the perfection of the human body and in many of his paintings he attempts to achieve the ideal form of beauty, one which surpasses that of reality.
Michelangelo was also another believer in the ideal human body and depicted it in his work in the Sistine Chapel. He always had a multitude of projects going at once and was commissioned almost ceaselessly. On his search for the ideal human beauty he created the David another statue of the Bible figure. Unlike that of Donatello, Michelangelo's David wasn't to showcase the pride and power of Florence over the Milanese, but was to showcase the perfect form of beauty.
Leonardo da Vinci was not only an artist, but also a sort of scientist. He was constantly curious about nature and how things work. He conducted directions, which he diagramed with detail. He was also an engineer and created many different types of machines including war machines and the first tank. He was considered a polymath, but was above all else a painter. While he was curious as to how things worked he did believe in moving from the mimicking of nature and the realism of the Early Renaissance, and instead moved towards the depiction of the perfect nature. In his painting the Last Supper Leonardo displays perfect perspective. Nothing about it is really wrong. Of course it likely wouldn't look like this in real life, but it was what Leonardo believed should be depicted. Not nature itself, but how it should be.
Raphael is famous as a painter, but is specifically important to the High Renaissance because he continued on the ideas of Leonardo. He believed in the perfection of nature. More specifically than that he believed in the perfection of the human body and in many of his paintings he attempts to achieve the ideal form of beauty, one which surpasses that of reality.
Michelangelo was also another believer in the ideal human body and depicted it in his work in the Sistine Chapel. He always had a multitude of projects going at once and was commissioned almost ceaselessly. On his search for the ideal human beauty he created the David another statue of the Bible figure. Unlike that of Donatello, Michelangelo's David wasn't to showcase the pride and power of Florence over the Milanese, but was to showcase the perfect form of beauty.