Michelangelo
Michelangelo was an Italian High Renaissance artist renowned for sculptural figures, the Sistine Chapel frescoes, and his tempera grassa Doni Tondo.
Painter
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian High Renaissance painter whose portraits, subtle shadows, and carefully studied figures transformed European painting.
Leonardo da Vinci quick facts
Leonardo studied anatomy, optics, gesture, and light to build softly modeled figures and atmospheric depth; he also experimented with dry-wall painting.
| Full name | Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Born | 1452 · Vinci, Republic of Florence (now Italy) |
| Died | 1519 · Amboise, France |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Movements | High Renaissance |
| Paint types | Oil paint · Tempera |
| Other media | Drawing |
| Other materials | — |
| Painting surfaces | Wood · Plaster |
| Painting methods | Layered oil modeling and sfumato; tempera-based a secco painting on prepared dry plaster for The Last Supper, not wet-plaster fresco |
| Common subjects | Portraits, biblical stories, human expression, anatomy, rocky landscapes, and idealized figures |
| Notable works | Mona Lisa · The Virgin of the Rocks · The Last Supper |
Sources: National Gallery: The Virgin of the Rocks, oil on poplar, Museo del Cenacolo Vinciano: The Last Supper, dry-wall painting, UNESCO: Santa Maria delle Grazie and The Last Supper, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Leonardo’s drawings.
Paint types used by Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo used oil in panel paintings and tempera in The Last Supper, applying it to dry plaster in a technique distinct from traditional buon fresco.
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Oil paint
The National Gallery records Leonardo’s The Virgin of the Rocks (c. 1491–1508) as oil on poplar. He used layered oil paint and soft transitions to model the figures, rocks, and atmospheric distance. This panel painting documents his oil practice separately from the experimental wall technique he used for The Last Supper.
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Tempera
Leonardo’s The Last Supper was painted on a dry preparatory layer with a greasy tempera containing egg yolk, according to the Cenacolo Vinciano. Because he worked on dry plaster rather than into wet lime, the mural is not true fresco. This experimental method contributed to its distinctive materials and conservation challenges.
Sources: National Gallery: The Virgin of the Rocks, oil on poplar; Museo del Cenacolo Vinciano: The Last Supper, pigment applied to a dry preparatory wall layer; Uffizi: Baptism of Christ.
Painting surfaces used by Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci's documented works use wood, plaster; examples distinguish the painted surface from its support or object in each cited work.
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Wood
Leonardo’s panel paintings, including the National Gallery’s The Virgin of the Rocks, are documented on poplar wood. He used the prepared panel for an oil composition with layered forms and softened transitions, distinct from the mural surface of The Last Supper.
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Plaster
Leonardo painted The Last Supper directly on the refectory wall in Milan using an experimental dry-wall method. He applied paint over a prepared plaster surface rather than painting into wet plaster as in true fresco; this distinction is central to how the work was made and conserved.
Sources: National Gallery: The Virgin of the Rocks, oil on poplar, Museo del Cenacolo Vinciano: The Last Supper, dry-wall painting, UNESCO: Santa Maria delle Grazie and The Last Supper.
Painters similar to Leonardo da Vinci
Michelangelo and Raphael shared Leonardo's High Renaissance interest in anatomy and classical harmony, yet approached composition and figures differently.
Raphael
Raphael was an Italian High Renaissance painter celebrated for balanced Madonnas, clear figure groupings, and the Vatican's School of Athens fresco.