Who Was Leonardo da Vinci 达·芬奇 Chapter 6 The Battle of the Artists

Leonardo was one the greatest artists of the Renaissance¹. But he was not alone. The Renaissance in Italy was such a special time because it produced so many talented artists. Besides Leonardo, the two other greatest names belong to Raphael and Michelangelo.

Raphael was a great admirer of Leonardo’s. Michelangelo was not. He didn’t like Leonardo, and Leonardo didn’t like him. It is hard to imagine two men who were more different. Michelangelo came from a well-off family but didn’t wash or change his clothes often. He slept on the floor of his studio. He was also short, had a crooked² back, and a quick temper. Leonardo was handsome, well-dressed, neatly³ groomed⁴, and charming.

Twenty-seven years younger than Leonardo, Michelangelo had become famous for his huge statue of David. Leonardo didn’t think the statue was all that great. Or at least that’s what he said.

In turn, Michelangelo made fun of Leonardo in public for never finishing his huge statue. He said, “You made a model of a horse you could never cast in bronze and which you gave up, to your shame. And the stupid people of Milan had faith in you!”

When both were asked to paint a wall in the main government building of Florence, it became a fierce contest. The walls were to picture different scenes from famous battles that Florence had won.

Again, the paintings were to be frescoes⁶, pictures painted directly onto the walls. (The last time Leonardo had tried this was in the monastery⁷ for The Last Supper.) The room was giant-size, and Leonardo’s fresco⁵ was to measure about sixty feet by twenty-four feet. He began by making many drawings. He wanted a scene full of action, with horses rearing⁸ and soldiers fighting. The horror of war would come through, too: the dead. The wounded howling in pain. The dust and dirt and blood.

After Leonardo decided⁹ on the design, he made a cartoon, which was transferred onto the wall. Then he set up a scaffold with a platform that could move. This would allow him to work in comfort.

The trouble was, Leonardo still did not want to make a fresco in the usual way. Once again he tried an experiment. He found a way to use oil paints with coal fires to make the paint dry quickly. He had tested out the experiment on a wall in his studio, and it had worked. But the test was done on a small paint-covered area. Leonardo needed it to work on great big areas—and it didn’t. If the fires were placed close to the painting, it melted. If they were placed far away, there wasn’t enough heat to make it dry. The top part of his battle scene ended up black with smoke; other parts ran. After three years of hard work, Leonardo was left with nothing but a great big mess.

As for Michelangelo, he didn’t finish his wall, either. Maybe that was some comfort for Leonardo. In 1504, Michelangelo was called to Rome by the pope¹⁰ to start other jobs. One was to paint the ceiling of the pope’s chapel¹¹. We know it as the Sistine Chapel.

 

1 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

2 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

3 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

4 groomed   

v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• She is always perfectly groomed. 她总是打扮得干净利落。
• Duff is being groomed for the job of manager. 达夫正接受训练，准备当经理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 fresco   

n.壁画；vt.作壁画于

参考例句：

• This huge fresco is extremely clear and just like nature itself.It is very harmonious.这一巨幅壁画，清晰有致且又浑然天成，十分和谐。
• So it is quite necessary to study the influence of visual thinking over fresco.因此，研究视觉思维对壁画的影响和作用是十分必要的。

6 frescoes   

n.壁画( fresco的名词复数 )；温壁画技法，湿壁画

参考例句：

• The Dunhuang frescoes are gems of ancient Chinese art. 敦煌壁画是我国古代艺术中的瑰宝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The frescoes in these churches are magnificent. 这些教堂里的壁画富丽堂皇。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

8 rearing   

v.饲养( rear的现在分词 )；养育；抚养；抬起

参考例句：

• She spends a lot of time rearing animals. 她花费大量时间饲养动物。 来自辞典例句
• Soviet women carry the main burden of shopping, homemaking and child rearing. 苏联的妇女承担的主要义务就是采购，做家务及抚养孩子。 来自辞典例句

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 pope   

n.（罗马天主教的）教皇

参考例句：

• The Pope is the spiritual leader of many Christians.教皇是众多基督徒的宗教领袖。
• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。

11 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。