Florence, 1504870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfQx70cEN0
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The Palazzo Vecchio stood tall and imposing over the square before it. Its high stone facade stood as a lasting reminder of the endurance of all Florentine values. Indeed, the endurance of Florence herself - of her terracotta roof tiles that baked in the glorious heat of the Italian summer, of her poor folk that made their living on the Ponte Vecchio selling their wares for any buyer, who would take almost any price as long as it might buy a loaf of bread, of her artists and her poets and her sculptors and her diplomats and her warriors - all here, living almost as neighbours. Florence, she who nurtured her beloved craftsmen, she who was praised the world over for producing such fine artwork, was now to be honoured by those she gave glory to. A meeting of artists had gathered in the summer to commission the work, and now they gathered again, in the heavy mists of January, to discuss where to place the work to honour their beloved city.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGMgzi3dDo
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A group of artists stood together outside the Palazzo, gathered in a huddle in the square. Their hands rubbed together for warmth, trying desperately to bring some heat back into their swiftly numbing fingers. Leonardo stood silently in his heavy velvet cloak, his dark, sharp eyes almost watering in reaction to the bitter weather. It was the coldest winter Florence had experienced in years, and as many of the men present were ageing and their limbs were beginning to ache from shivering, they much desired to get back inside and in front of a warm hearth.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNr5PR2ompG
"My fingers shall surely never paint again if we do not hasten to get out of this cold!" Botticelli remarked loudly. He was met with a unified grumble from the artists before him. They all wore heavy cloaks and fine leather gloves, but the bitter hand of winter did penetrate even these, driving ice into the very bones of the men.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Uuljsi3tn
They were gathered to discuss the placement of Michelangelo’s David. The statue had only recently been finished, and all that remained now was to decide where it would stand. The republican leaders wanted it to stand outside the Palazzo Vecchio, displaying to all the strength of the new political system. Others, however, wished it to be placed nearer to the church, or under an archway.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsf86Mc6VzX
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Many of his fellow artists stood to give their opinions, but Leonardo sat quite contentedly on a stone bench towards the back of the crowd. He pulled out a small leather-bound book attached to a belt at his waist. The leather was already cracked from too much bending; the pages were creased at the edges from forever being in the artist's pocket, and a number of mysterious substances stained the pages. He ate with the book at his side, he drank with the book at his side - every where Leonardo went, so did his notebook. He took great joy in producing it from underneath his cloak and with no hint of delay, he began to move a small pencil across the paper with nimble fingers. He sketched the proportions of Michelangelo’s statue almost exactly, his eyes glancing frantically between the paper in his lap and the statue before him. Everything was more or less identical. Until, that is, he decided to add a blot of ink. He placed it symbolically over the statue’s genitals. With a simple stroke of the pen, Leonardo emasculated the mighty statue. Paying no heed to the issue they were here to discuss, Leonardo continued his caricature, a small smile playing on his lips. He added a sling shot and a stone, elongated the arms and made the eyes stupid and docile. He transformed the classical Hero into a thug one would find lurking in the dark back streets of Florence after a night of too much drinking. He stripped David of his strength, his masculinity and his power - both physical and political. David represented the people of Florence revolting against the Medici and the ruling elite, against the start of a republic and the abolition of a one-man ruling system. David represented the power of the people… and the power of Michelangelo.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk70tEgi8qB
Leonardo did not allow the statue to have so much significance. It was merely a lump of marble shaped by the rough and weather-beaten hands of the young, stubborn and, frankly, rude sculptor. His pencil met the paper once more and he continued his mocking cartoon.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkd2kin6dDr
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Leonardo amused himself in this way for some time, subtly insulting Michelangelo from where he sat. He smirked to himself. His mind was utterly separated from the matter they were here for, and it was not until he was called to speak that his eyes pulled themselves away from his notepad.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPt8bxY2JP
“I believe the statue should be placed under the arch.” He said simply. Out of the way, he added mentally. “So as not to spoil the ceremonies of the church officials.” He said with a slight smirk. His tone dripped with contempt and sarcasm. “Indeed, I believe the statue should be better suited to some kind of decoration.” He continued, his tone implying to all that the statue needed clothing. From the front of the crowd, Leonardo saw Michelangelo heating up the air around him with his fury. He observed how the sculptor glared angrily at him over the heads of others and found himself gaining a smug kind of satisfaction. Leonardo stepped down as others stood up to offer their own opinions. Many shared his view that the statue should be placed under the arch - so as not to intimidate, so as to protect the statue from the weather, so that people must go to see the statue rather than walk past it aimlessly - many arguments were put forward, and all of them seemed to increase the scowl on Michelangelo’s brow. He had spent months agonisingly chipping away at a lifeless block of marble. The statue had consumed him for the past three years, and these idiots wanted it to be placed under an arch? Where it should hardly be seen? Where it was safely out of the way of their works? I don’t think so, Michelangelo muttered bitterly to himself.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqK5ZcwAzY
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Leonardo turned back to his notepad. Michelangelo glowered at him from across the crowd, and idly wondered what it was the artist was so intently sketching. Probably another horse for the Milanese that he will not cast, he thought to himself with a vindictive smirk. Michelangelo enjoyed nothing more than throwing stones at Leonardo Da Vinci, and nothing in the world was better than when he observed that his stones had made marks in the armour that so well protected Florence’s favourite artiste. Michelangelo considered it ludicrous that the statue should be clothed! Clothes were dishonest, a lie. Clothes masked ones true appearance. Clothes were deceitful. His statue would not be draped with a lie. He fumed silently at the older artist, detesting every pretentious and extravagantly dressed inch of him.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEcuhi87va
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Yet it was that Leonardo cared little for the statue’s nakedness - indeed, it bothered him not a single measure. It was not that it bothered Leonardo that compelled him to urge the genitals of David be covered, it was that it bothered Michelangelo.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCI83aZ72kA
Michelangelo obsessed over the nakedness of the body. No, thought Leonardo, he obsessed over the nakedness of the male body. And whilst Leonardo shared Michelangelo’s sexual preferences of men over women, he found the younger artist rather callow. Michelangelo examined every muscle of the body. He scrutinised the curve of a thigh and the rise of a neck. He particularly enjoyed the curve of a man’s back and upper thigh as the upper body twisted.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkiZUTssRm
Michelangelo observed every muscle of the human body and desired them all. Every muscle was one of desire, every inch of skin was one to be desired and nothing else mattered in the mind of Michelangelo Buonarroti.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUKxtRCteB
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Leonardo knew better. Leonardo knew the ways of the world and knew that beauty lay not in the skin or the firmness of the muscles. Beauty lay in the eyes and in the mind. Beauty lay in knowledge, and beauty lay in love. Surely, thought Leonardo, the only muscles necessary to convey desire and love are the lips? Surely it is the lips that hold the only keys to love. It is the lips that both speak and manifest love, not the array of muscles that line one’s thigh.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFxvraoxcm
From Leonardo’s workshop, the lips of the Mona Lisa smiled subtly. Her infamous secret being that she knew more of desire and love than Michelangelo ever would.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PGzy5NAJ0
Leonardo smiled to himself, his pencil reaching down again to his notepad to once more make a private, secret mockery of Michelangelo Buonarroti.
A/N - Link to the image is here870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoQ7xuBVRC
Facts: In case you weren't aware, Leonardo and Michelangelo did not like each other. The word 'despise' comes to mind when I think of the relationship between these two, and although the art I have chosen for this contest is merely a sketch, the fact that is is simply dripping with sarcasm and mockery shows the extent of Leonardo's disdain for Michelangelo, so much so that he refuses to accept the statue for the true feat of art that it is.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0hFjy0z7H
The reference to the Milanese horse is the incident in which Leonardo spent years of his life designing a colossal bronze horse for the Milanese and it was never cast. It was later used as an insult towards Leonardo during a public quarrel between the two.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLtyvnsxCe
Also, I'm pretty sure the statue wasn't actually there when the discussion over where it should be placed occurred, but Leonardo was present when it was placed and unveiled. I have chosen to combine this two events.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGOguYx2BU
The book 'The Lost Battles...' by Jonathan Jones was used to write this and it is he that puts forward the idea of the Mona Lisa's smile being a slight to Michelangelo;s obsession with muscles and desire. Whilst I highly doubt it (there is evidence that at first the Mona Lisa was not smiling) it is certainly an interesting concept to consider.870Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnyv3m4mIm
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