Reading Response: Giorgio Vasari and Leonardo da Vinci
After reading “Preface to the Lives” by Giorgio Vasari and Leonardo’s “Paragone,”
What does Vasari describe as this new age of painting’s defining characteristics? The qualities that define the new age of painting, he claims, are the type of art styles chosen and the level of detail we can add to the finished piece. To begin with, this describes how Earth, nature, and humans were the first acts of creation, just like modern art. To prove that as years go by, we keep improving and getting more skilled at reproducing nature realistically, and we are making steady progress toward our target (Vasari, 1991). While improving our skills at making art, it is important to take care of our artwork because artwork can tell a story of history, and artists consider real-life conditions in what they create. Art can show both history and emotions as well as the actions in it, but because of time, the original meaning may be hard to discern, so art should be kept physically as well as in its correct interpretation. He further explains that to create living art, those artists have learned perspective, the structure of the human form, and how to use light and darkness. This allowed them to write pieces that felt more alive, true, and emotional compared to early artists. He also describes how these artists lifted art from a trade to an intellectual practice by using creative ideas and expert skills together.
Which art form does Leonardo claim is superior, and why?
From his writings, Leonardo asserts that painting is preferable to sculpting. Leonardo believes that sculpting puts more strain on the body, and painting puts more strain on the mind (Shephard, 2013). With a painting, artists worry about light, shadow, color, volume, outline, location, distance, nearness, motion, and rest, but not so with a sculpture that focuses only on volume, outline, location, motion, and rest. To this end, a skilled painter gives more thought to how each figure is arranged in the painting. A strong point of painting over sculpture is that you are creating the whole setting as well as the focus in a painting, whereas, for a sculpture, you only concentrate on the main object. Besides, a painting requires that you build layers and add color, which makes it better than a sculpture. Any fog, translucent objects, or things covering another part of the painting should be carefully re-created to fit how we would see those in the real place and from that angle. Something to say against this is that sculpting is the harder art since painters get to be neat and comfortable, while sculptors usually get their clothes dirty and create a mess. But when creating a sculpture, there is dust and small bits of marble everywhere, and the artist is constantly aware of the repeated sound of tools hitting the marble. Sculptures last for longer and are able to extend their lives under more environmental conditions, though one’s use of different art materials shouldn’t make sculpting necessarily better.
In conclusion, Overall, Vasari and Leonardo explain the changing role and importance of art in separate styles but agree to some extent. He points out that artists have developed the ability to capture realism, emotions, and deeper ideas in their paintings, which he celebrates. At the same time, Leonardo thought that painting requires more effort and thought, but he also recognized that sculpture can be very challenging physically. Together, these writings display how Renaissance thinkers considered art as able to capture nature and express the experiences and thoughts of humans. I agree with Leonardo’s position on the question of what form of art is superior. I still believe in no way is sculpting easy or quick to master, but there is more to perfect and consider when creating a piece of art.
References
Shephard, T. (2013). Leonardo and the Paragone. In The Routledge Companion to Music and Visual Culture (pp. 229-237). Routledge.
Vasari, G. (1991). The lives of the artists. Oxford University Press.
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Question 
Reading Response: Giorgio Vasari and Leonardo da Vinci
After completing your assigned readings for the week by Giorgio Vasari and Leonardo da Vinci, write a reading response that addresses all of the questions below with a minimum of 500 words (in total, not per question).
Reading Response – Giorgio Vasari and Leonardo da Vinci
1) What does Vasari describe as the defining characteristics of this new age of painting? What have these artists done that make them different/unique from their predecessors?
2) Which art form does Leonardo claim is superior, and why? Do you agree with Leonardo’s position? Explain why.