While painting the ceiling of...
Illustration
While painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo was much troubled about the quality of his work. I don't know which panel of that great painting was giving him trouble, but he had drawn preliminary sketches in actual size, called cartoons, on paper. In frustration he dismissed his assistant for the day, and left, taking himself to a tavern.
At the tavern, he ordered wine. The tavern keeper brought a cup, and Michelangelo tasted it. He spit out the wine on the floor, saying it was spoiled. The tavern keeper just took it in stride. Taking up a mallet, he strode over to the huge cask of wine, and knocked out the spigot, creating a stream of wine pouring out onto the floor.
Michelangelo objected to the waste. The tavern keeper said, "If it's not good, I can't use it. I have to throw it out."
The legend is that Michelangelo left the tavern without ordering anything else, went back to the Sistine, threw out the cartoons, and worked into the night drawing another, better panel.
Michelangelo only signed one work in his entire career, and left most of his sculptures unfinished. Maybe he was satisfied with it as it was, or maybe he no longer intended to use the piece. I wonder if he was such a perfectionist he didn't want to put his name on work that was less than divinely perfect -- if he really wanted to throw everything out except that one work.
-- Mosley
At the tavern, he ordered wine. The tavern keeper brought a cup, and Michelangelo tasted it. He spit out the wine on the floor, saying it was spoiled. The tavern keeper just took it in stride. Taking up a mallet, he strode over to the huge cask of wine, and knocked out the spigot, creating a stream of wine pouring out onto the floor.
Michelangelo objected to the waste. The tavern keeper said, "If it's not good, I can't use it. I have to throw it out."
The legend is that Michelangelo left the tavern without ordering anything else, went back to the Sistine, threw out the cartoons, and worked into the night drawing another, better panel.
Michelangelo only signed one work in his entire career, and left most of his sculptures unfinished. Maybe he was satisfied with it as it was, or maybe he no longer intended to use the piece. I wonder if he was such a perfectionist he didn't want to put his name on work that was less than divinely perfect -- if he really wanted to throw everything out except that one work.
-- Mosley
