Italophilia
Michelangelo was born in Florence in 1475 and, like Leonardo, was a true Renaissance man. He was a sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. He was considered the greatest living artist in his lifetime and, since then, one of the greatest artists of all time. His two best-known sculptures, the Pietà and David, are famous throughout the world. Michelangelo also created two of the most famous and influential frescoes in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis covering the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Chapel.
Luigi Pellegrini Scaramuccia
Born in Perugia to the painter Giovanni Antonio Scaramuccia, he left paintings throughout the peninsula, including Rome, Bologna, and Milan. He is more highly regarded as a biographer or historian than the former. His book "Le finezze de' pennelli italiani" was one of the earliest compilations of biographies that included baroque artists from Bologna and Milan (published in 1674 in Pavia). Written as a pseudonymous account of travels through Italy, he appears to plagiarize extensively from prior biographers, including Raphaël Trichet du Fresne in his introduction to Leonardo’s treatise in 1651.