The Lost Battles Quotes

“Art in sixteenth-century Florence was not a “soft” activity compared with the real world where “hard” reality prevailed. Images were powerful. Paintings and statues in churches could possess miraculous powers or manifest protective saints.”
― Jonathan Jones, The Lost Battles: Leonardo, Michelangelo And The Artistic Duel That Sparked The Renaissance

“Today, in sixteenth-century Italy, says Machiavelli, the pieties of the Church honour weakness and celebrate “humility.” Christianity’s tranquillizing effect pacifies citizens and makes them easy to tyrannise.”
― Jonathan Jones, The Lost Battles: Leonardo, Michelangelo And The Artistic Duel That Sparked The Renaissance