In the early 1500s, the city of Florence, Italy, created a competition between two larger than life Renaissance figures: Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. To glorify the political power of the Florentine Republic, the city commissioned these two artists to paint frescoes on opposite walls in an important public building.
In a new book, The Lost Battles: Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Artistic Duel That Defined the Renaissance
, art historian Jonathan Jones details the lives of these men, the competition between them and how their contrasting visions of mankind continue to influence art and culture today.