Video Review

Questions and Topics for Your Blog Posting:

The Drawings of Michelangelo
Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

I chose to watch and review The Drawings of Michelangelo because it provided me an opportunity to learn more about his works in depth, and I have not learned very much about the famous artist in previous courses. 

I selected this video to watch as one of my choices because I have always found an interest in the art and works of the Renaissance and I felt it would be interesting to see more about the works from the Renaissance. 

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

While watching The Drawings of Michelangelo, I learned that many of Michelangelo’s drawings were done prior to a painting or sculpture that was eventually completed. These drawings are of the human body, which is a complex and detailed figure to draw realistically. 

One of the key concepts from this video is that Leonardo da Vinci became a master of perspective and later he inquired the knowledge of the proportions of humans and animals. This knowledge also showed in da Vinci’s architecture as well. The use of a landscape as the main focus of a painting was first done by Leonardo da Vinci, as well as the use of the landscape in the background of a portrait. 

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

The discussion of the drawings by Michelangelo adds greatly to my understanding and knowledge of his works, because I have not studied into Michelangelo in depth very much. The cross hatching that Michelangelo used throughout much of this drawings is a technique that is very difficult to replicate in the beautiful way that Michelangelo has managed to use it in his drawings of the body. 

The video titled Leonardo da Vinci: The mind of the Renaissance gave me a more in depth understanding of the works of da Vinci. I did not know that Leonardo da Vinci was the first artist who painted a work of art that contained a landscape as the main focus, so I found that to be a very interesting fact.