If you have not yet done so, you must plan a trip to Florence, Italy. Aside from the great architecture, there is Michelangelo's David . Look at him! You can see the muscles rippling on his chest. Check out his right hand! It is larger than his left because it exemplifies the might and strength needed to slay Goliath. On closer examination, you can practically see the blood coursing through his veins. This was all carved from marble! Along the corridor leading up to the David, are Michelangelo's unfinished works. Amongst them, there is one that looks as if the individual was pushing himself out from the marble. Michelangelo often told his sculpture students while examining a block of Carrera marble that inside was a statue trying to emerge (or words to that effect). The carver's job is to assist that image to emerge.
The Pieta , St. Peter and so many other sculptures are truly marvelous oeuvres that exemplify the level of talent granted to Michelangelo.
In Milan, I was captivated by this painting. Look at the luminescence behind the figure of Christ created by another genius.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), the Florentine master's masterwork, The Last Supper, one of the world's best loved religious paintings, is located in the inconspicuous church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. Leonardo, always the inventor, tried using new materials for The Last Supper. Instead of using egg tempera on wet plaster (the preferred method of fresco painting, and one which had worked successfully for centuries), he thought he'd give using dry plaster a whirl. His experiment resulted in a more varied palette, which was Leonardo's intent. What he hadn't taken into account (because, who knew?) was that this method wasn't at all durable. The painted plaster began to flake off the wall almost immediately, and people have been attempting to restore it ever since.
LEONARDO DA VINCI "Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind."