Art History Appreciation

Final
Hannah Towne

Question at hand.
Michelangelos frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and Diego Riveras murals reflect
various aspects of the times in which the artists lived and worked. How do the
works of these two artists express the culture, politics, religion, and artistic
movements of their ?

Michelangelos Frescoes
VS.
Diego Riveras Murals

Michelangelo History

He was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese Italy

He was well known for his paintings and sculptures making him the greatest
artist during the Italian Renaissance.
His father did not support his work towards a career in the arts. It wasn't until
Mural artist Domenico Ghirlandaio took him under his wing.
Soon after working with Domenico, his talents struck the interest of a rich art
patron Lorenzo de Medici. He then moved into his house in a spare bedroom
and began learning more and more from Lorenzo's circle of friends and
scholars.

Michelangelo History Continued..

By 1498 he had gotten a career changing commission after working in Rome

From that point Michelangelo was consistently getting commissioned to do
different Ivory and marble sculptures for mostly religious purposes
Finally by 1508 Pope Julius commissioned him back to Rome to paint his ever
famous 12 Apostles on the Sistine Chapel. In the course of the next four
years he completed it making it his most famous piece
HE continued to sculpt and paint as well as, write poetry and work on
architecture until his death in 1564 at the age of 88.

Diego Rivera History

He was born December 8, 1886 in Guanajuato Mexico.

He worked his whole life to make art that would reflect the lives of Mexican
people
His interest in art started at a young age, he attended the San Carlos
Academy of Fine Arts. Where he was soon influenced by a man who owned
a print shop near his school named Jose Posada.
By 1907 he moved to Europe to further his abilities.
While there he befriended many famous artist such as:

Pablo Picasso
Paul Gauguin
Henri Matisse

Diego Rivera History Continued...

He soon became a well known cubist muralist in Euro

After the Mexican Revolution in 1914-1915 and the Russian Revolution in
1917
Rivera now wanted his art to reflect the lives of working people and and
natives of Mexico
By the time he returned to Mexico he received government funding to be able
to a series of murals on the walls of public buildings
Later he went on to do commissioned work in the United states doing even
more murals.
His work started to slow down leading to his death November, 24, 1957 due
to heart failure.

Political Influence
Diego Rivera
-

Studies show that Rivera's influences did

not stem from other art.
But rather the majority of his influences
stemmed from politics in the world around
him.
In 1922 Rivera joined the Mexican
Communist Party becoming a very heavy
political activist.
-

Looking at most of his art during this time

period. Almost all of his art sent some sort
of political message to the people

Michelangelo
-

Michelangelo was not known to have any

real political influences in his art work.
Most of the influence he possessed
revolved around the Catholic Church

Political Influences
Diego Rivera
-

His political reach continued in 1924.

When he went to Moscow to connect with
a Communist party there
However not soon after arriving he was
accused of plotting against the party.
Then kicked out of the Soviet Union.
By the time he married his wife famous
artist Frida Kahlo, his art took a shift for a
softer side. Slowly losing political
messages as the years went on.

Michelangelo
-

While he did have many friends within

politics, he himself never found a pull
towards it.
He was rather known as a self made
genius

Political Influences
Diego Rivera - Political Vs. Late Artwork

Michelangelo- Softer Biblical Work

Cultural and Religious Influences

Diego Rivera
-

Unlike Michelangelo Diego's artwork didn't

have any religious influences.
Rather he kept it political and influential to
society and Mexican Culture
However he was part of an ethnic group
of Jews whose late ancestors had been
forced to convert to Catholicism
Diego was raised Catholic but was aware
of his Jewish Heritage
Although he was raised Catholic, he was a
self proclaimed Atheist.

Michelangelo
-

On the other spectrum Michelangelo was

a very religious man throughout his whole
life.
He was also very involved in the Catholic
Church.
He was even given special permission of
work in the Catholic Church and study
Cadavers to get a better look at the human
body and effects of health on these
bodies.

Cultural and Religious Influences

Diego Rivera
-

During his early years almost all of Diegos

Art was influenced by Mexican culture
He wanted to show mexican culture at its
finest and allow the outside world to see it
too
He also had a soft spot of Aztec culture
and art
He believed it showed hispanic heritage in
the purest and most accurate form

Michelangelo
-

Most of his first commissioned works were

all commissioned by the Catholic Church.
Where he was commissioned to make
paintings and sculptures that had different
religious meanings to these churches
Even in his later years he was still being
asked to do work for different churches all
around his country and around Europe.

Cultural and Religious Influences

Diego Rivera
-

After he explored many aztec murals and

arts
He himself began using these new
techniques to create more colorful and
cultural pieces.

Michelangelo
-

Altogether his work was influenced almost

entirely by religion.
All of his works showed biblical stories or
people as represented in his mind.
That is probably the reason why so many
churches intrusted him in making these
pieces for them.

Artistic Styles
Diego Rivera
-

Diegos style changed many times

throughout his lifetime
When he first began, the work was well
known for almost entirely being Frescos
-

Michelangelo
-

Frescos are paintings or murals painted on

fresh plaster

He painted frescos on everything from

University buildings to any public building
He wanted everyday people to be able to
see his work and relate to it

Michelangelo began his life with sculpting,

and soon was taught Fresco painting and
mastered that
Although he saw himself as mostly a
sculpture he went on to create some of the
most famous architecture and frescos the
world has ever known
Like most artist during this time period, he
worked with every time of media and art

Artistic Styles
Diego Rivera
-

By the time he traveled to Europe his style became

Cubistic
-

This made things more abstract and less

realistic than his earlier work

Michelangelo
-

During this period his art showed more light and depth

By the time he reached his Aztec stage his art was

very colorful and geometric

By his political stage it was once again back to being

more realistic and dark showing how life was during
these times.

Finally by the end of his life his work became

geometric and distorted figures

All of his art was known to be very

perfectly detailed and outlined
Most of it was painted with oil paints as
well. Which was his preferred media
He painted with light and bright colors that
harmonized the paintings
Finally everything he painted was free
handed
He believed he was mostly a sculptor but
he also believed it was important to dabble
in everything

Conclusion
Both of these painters were well known during their time periods. And over the
years have only become more and more famous and influential to artist around the
world. Their styles are the complete opposite of each others yet they are both just
as beautiful as the other. You cannot even begin to choose which artist is better,
because there is no clear answer. Both is great and both have done amazing
things with their lives. Altogether you cannot compare the two because they are
so far from each other's styles. However learning more about both of them has
been an honor and I only hope they will remain famous for the rest of time.

Resources
History.com. Michelangelo - Facts & Summary. history.com (2010): n.pag. Web.
7 Jan. 2017.
Diego Rivera. biography.com. n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2017.
Diego Rivera influences. Diegorivera.com. n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2017.
WNET. Diego Rivera | about the artist | American masters. Episodes. American
Masters, 26 Aug. 2006. Web. 7 Jan. 2017.
Michelangelo. Michelangelo style and technique. artable.com. Artble, 20 Jan.
2016. Web. 7 Jan. 2017.