Friendships and Rivalries with Patrick Bade

This course will explore the relationships of famous artists who were friends and rivals and sometimes enemies.

“A Renaissance Rivalry”

Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael.

Why did Michelangelo hate Raphael so much? The three “painter princes” of the High Renaissance enjoyed an unprecedented celebrity in their life-times.

Michelangelo did not take well to competition. He made Raphael bear the brunt of his unrelenting envy, contempt, and anger. Each constantly looked over his shoulder to observe the work of the other two and to learn and borrow ideas.

Michelangelo, the elder artist, accused Raphael of plagiarism, complaining that everything Raphael knew about art, he had learned from Michelangelo.

In the series:

Apr. 11: “A Renaissance Rivalry
May 2: “An Antwerp Friendship”
May 23: “A War of 2 Titans”