alpine
Gold Member
- Sep 13, 2012
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One day, Leonardo da Vinci was passing through the Piazza Santa Trinita in Florence. Some gentlemen were debating Dante in front of the Spini family palace. They called Leonardo over and asked him to explain the passage they were puzzling over, but just at that moment Michelangelo happened to come along and Leonardo instead suggested that the sculptor elucidate it.
This proposal annoyed Michelangelo. Instead of discoursing on Dante, he addressed Leonardo in the disrespectful "tu" form, and snapped back, "You explain it yourself, you who made the design of a horse to be cast in bronze, but who was unable to cast it." With that, he strode away, leaving Leonardo standing there, "made red in the face by his words".
Michelangelo had touched a sensitive spot. His rival's frequent failure to finish works – the horse in question was the gigantic monument Leonardo had begun in Milan – was due, he was alleging, to artistic deficiency. Leonardo couldn't do it.
And this is how it happened...
Personally I find Da Vinci being a dick here. Insulting Michelangelo like he did, was uncalled for. Shows his level...
This proposal annoyed Michelangelo. Instead of discoursing on Dante, he addressed Leonardo in the disrespectful "tu" form, and snapped back, "You explain it yourself, you who made the design of a horse to be cast in bronze, but who was unable to cast it." With that, he strode away, leaving Leonardo standing there, "made red in the face by his words".
Michelangelo had touched a sensitive spot. His rival's frequent failure to finish works – the horse in question was the gigantic monument Leonardo had begun in Milan – was due, he was alleging, to artistic deficiency. Leonardo couldn't do it.
And this is how it happened...
Personally I find Da Vinci being a dick here. Insulting Michelangelo like he did, was uncalled for. Shows his level...