3 Renaissance Rascals Exposed!

Secret Lives of Great Artists: What Your Teachers Never Told You about Master Painters and Sculptors

guest blogging with us. Every day this week, she'll be spilling the dirt on the artists you thought you knew. We'll let her take it from here:

The Renaissance is known as a time when reason triumphed over superstition and culture over chaos. Maybe—but Renaissance artists didn't always live up to that ethos. Here are three examples of great Renaissance masters at their most unreasonable:

1. Why Someone Punched Michelangelo in the Face

I felt bone and cartilage crush like a biscuit. That fellow will carry my signature till he dies."

And so he did. Michelangelo's nose was squished and flattened, with a distinct hump in the middle. There is no sign however that it made him any less of a jerk.

2. Don't Push the Guy Who Could Immortalize You

3. Botticelli's All-You-Can-Eat Feasts

Come back tomorrow for more great artist stories. And be sure to check out Elizabeth's wonderful new book Secret Lives of Great Artists: What Your Teachers Never Told You about Master Painters and Sculptors.