Today’s class focus was on High Renaissance in Italy. We spent a large part of the class discussing Leonardo da Vinci and all that he accomplished throughout his career. I found his interest and dedication to the human anatomy and how he could best understand it to be very interesting. It is clear that his interest did not only come as artist, but as a scientist and a life long learner. I was particularly surprised that he became certified to perform autopsy, to even further his exploration of the anatomy. This quest for understanding led to some of his veyr famous sketches and discoveries. This in particularly makes you have a greater appreciation for the time, effort, and attention to detail that he puts into the Vitruvian man for example.
Another highlight of our class was the discussion the Last Supper mural. This painting is incredibly famous so I was excited to formally learn about it. I do not think I quite realized the poor condition that the painting was in, or exactly how it was protected during WW2. I always find how wars affect art to be very interesting so it was cool to see the foresight that people had to build up sandbags and protect the painting so that it was able to survive the war.