3/9/09

AWESOME: Secret Lives of the artists you THOUGHT you knew ...

Boy, oh boy, were you ever wrong.

This week, Mental Floss is hosting some fantastic guest blogging from Elizabeth Lunday, author of Secret Lives of Great Artists: What Your Teachers Never Told You About Master Painters and Sculptors.

Michelangelo getting his face smashed in is pretty cool, but so far this one's my favorite:

Leonardo da Vinci had a well-deserved reputation for his aversion to work. Everyone in Italy knew if you gave the great artist a commission, you were lucky to get your artwork several years later, if at all. He pondered, he puttered, he futzed around and he never met a deadline. In fact, his slack approach to The Last Supper is legendary. Fed up with the artist’s endless procrastination (and the fact that he had made the monastery’s dining hall completely unusable), the Prior of Santa Maria delle Grazie finally decided to complain to the Duke of Milan. When called to defend his actions, a calm Leonardo explained that he was just trying to find a face evil enough to represent Judas, the betrayer of Christ. However, Leonardo added, if he couldn’t find the perfect model he could “always use the head of the tactless and impatient Prior.” The threat quickly put a stop to the complaints.

Oh snap!

Check out Mental Floss all week for the updates.

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