Exhibit, book explore religious works of Michelangelo, daVinci

THE JERSEY JOURNAL
By Rev. Alexander Santora

"John the Baptist" by Leonardo daVinci appears in the 2017 book "Leonardo daVinci" by Walter Isaacson.

Sixteenth-century Florence, Italy, produced two of the greatest artists in history -- Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, both of whom infused religious art with new techniques and insights that are still being studied and appreciated today. As a Holy Rosary grammar school boy, I was one of the 27 million visitors to the 1964-65 World's Fair in Queens, and the one image that remains with me is Michelangelo's Pieta. It was nowhere to be found, though, at the spectacular exhibit, "Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer," at the Metropolitan Museum until Feb. 12. Religious themes and figures also preoccupied Leonardo da Vinci, who lived around the same time -- April 15, 1452, to May 2, 1519 -- though he was younger when he died. "Leonardo da Vinci," by Walter Isaacson, Simon & Schuster; 2017; $35. [More]