Glimpses of Michaelangelo

Michaelangelo's Fight

Michelangelo had a temper of the quickest. He used to quarrel and fight in season and out of season. A young sculptor named Torrignano was terribly jealous of Michelangelo's ability. On his part there was jealousy, and on Michelangelo's part there was anger, So jealousy and anger fought together. In the fight Torrignano struck Michelangelo mercilessly and broke his nose. Michelangelo's nose remained disfigured for the rest of his life. As a result, Torrignano was compelled to leave the city.

The Overnight Trickster

Michelangelo loved to glorify the human body in its pristine form --that means, as natural as possible. He was wont to dress his figures with clothes as little as possible. He was ruthlessly assailed by certain moralists for his Last Judgement. A Vatican official felt that this particular painting was another name for a shocking and unspeakable experience. In order to console the poor official, the immortal Michelangelo made a few changes. He added a donkey's ears and a snake's tail! The immortal artist proved to be an overnight trickster.

Michelangelo and the Pope

Michelangelo and Pope Julius were always in the habit of quarreling. The artist would always find it impossible to comply with the Pope's request or command. Once the Pope asked Michelangelo to paint gold onto some figures. Michelangelo said, "It cannot be. Holy men cannot wear gold."

The Pope said, "Why not? They can!"

The artist would not listen, but this time Pope Julius did not want to fight. He was sick of fighting with Michelangelo for he knew that the artist had a temper of the quickest, the worst possible temper. So he forgave Michelangelo's outbursts and rewarded him for his extraordinary capacities as an artist.

Here the Pope valued the art, ignoring the shortcomings of the artist.

Rembrandt's Monkey

The great artist Rembrandt was extremely attached to his possessions. One of his possessions was a pet monkey. He was extremely fond of this monkey and, alas, when it died, he felt extremely miserable, to say the least. A strong desire haunted him for some time. He wanted to keep some kind of remembrance of his monkey.

Once, a couple came to Rembrandt's place for their portrait. The artist did a very good job. Then he begged them to allow him to paint from memory a picture of his pet monkey in the portrait. The couple said, "No, it cannot be done. We don't want your monkey to be with us."

But Rembrandt insisted and insisted. The couple did not listen to his request. Nevertheless, he drew the monkey's picture in the portrait and the couple got furious. They left the artist's home without taking the picture.

So Rembrandt's love for a monkey far surpassed his love for name, fame and money power. And he cherished that painting for the rest of his life.

By: Sri Chinmoy