Renaissance+Art

This is the Mona Lisa. This was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo painted this from 1503-1506. In his paintings, he attempted to depict not only a person but also the state of his or her soul. Da Vinci's portrait Mona Lisa is an excellent example of how his use of light and shadow adds ambiguity and movement to the subject.

This is an interior view of the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling was painted by Michelangelo in 1508. In 1508, pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Creating an architectural system on the ceiling, Michelangelo painted hundreds of figures on several planes, making the entire work feel as though it were three-dimensional. It is a highly ornamental work and includes nine stories from the biblical book Genesis and 12 prophets. It took Michelangelo four years, painting while lying on his back on scaffolding, to finish the immense work.

Allegorical depiction of French king Louis XIV as the Greek god Apollo. Believing in his divine right to rule, Louis XIV broke French precedent to establish himself as an absolute monarch. An absolute monarch claims complete rule over his kingdom. A divine right is that you believe that you have the power to rule directly from God. Appropriately deemed the Sun King, he radiated power and magnificence.

This is a portrait of Galileo Galilee. A leading figure of the scientific revolution, Galileo helped usher in the modern era by laying the foundations of mechanics and experimental physics. He used his telescope to search the outer space. He also believed in a heliocentric universe that got him under house arrest until he died.