Da Vinci and Michaelangelo During the Renaissance, artists evolved many of the techniques which are now employed in creating works of art. There are many great artists who came out of this historical time period and while they have somewhat similar techniques and similar subject matters, they all have unique attributes as well. In this time, one of the biggest differences between artists of the Renaissance and ones that came before is the interest that artists had in the human body and the human form. Before this time, people were painted in a flat way, but Renaissance painters tried to make the people seem more realistic, which many were very successful in accomplishing this. Two of the artists in the Renaissance who are considered to be the best are Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo. When looking at their most famous works, "The Mona Lisa" and "The Sistine Chapel Ceiling" respectively, the viewer can see the importance of the human body and why the artist wanted to explore this in his artwork.

"The Mona Lisa" is perhaps the world's most famous painting. People travel from all over the world to the Louvre in Paris just to see this painting also known as "La Gioconda." In the painting a woman sits with one arm holding onto the other, staring out from the canvas. When talking about "The Mona Lisa," people tend to focus on her face. It is easy to see why this is the case. Da Vinci gave her a very unique look and that makes her face more memorable and interesting to people looking at the picture. The first...

Whenever a person's brows are removed it gives them an odd appearance because it is now what people are used to seeing. It is also clear when looking more closely at the subject that she has no eyelashes either. Except for the brown curls growing out of the top of her head, the woman is hairless. There is something very different about her hair as well; under her hairline there is a line which goes across her forehead. It is perhaps another hair but it does not look as though it belongs there. It adds to the unsettling, unbalanced look of the painting. Her nose is very long and very nearly reaches her mouth. This mouth is also very famous because it has the hint of a smile on it. You cannot really tell what her attitude is, if she is sad or angry or annoyed but she does not look happy. Her expression gives her some mystery which adds to her intrigue. The other famous part of the painting is the special way da Vinci painted her eyes. It is said that from wherever you stand, the eyes seem to be following you. Of course, this cannot be true. The painting is a static thing and the eyes cannot move, however the particular angel that they have and the fact that they are dark adds to the feeling that she somehow can watch from her painting. This is an optical illusion and since da Vinci was also a scientist, it makes sense how he could incorporate this into his painting. Most people do not realize that "The Mona Lisa" is…