THE BOOK OF
GIANTS
Leonardo discovers anatomyBorgia popes and other comedians
Chapter 10
Another anatomical Giant of the Renaissance was kMichelangelo, who specialized in making very big art.
2He was also controversial because he made very large paintings and statues of lnaked biblical characters.
3For example, he made a large naked statue of mDavid,
4And then he painted naked pictures of nAdam and Eve and other biblical characters all over the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel,
5But it was okay,
6oBecause he always put clothes on the pVirgin Mary,
7And qGod, of course,
8And he also had permission from the rPope,
9Who was having a lot of wars and almost no other fun to speak of,
10And therefore thought it would be fun to watch sMichelangelo lie on his back on a scaffold painting naked pictures in church,
11For about ten years,
12Which it was.
13tIn fact, it was so much fun that popes, nobles, and other Christians who had lots of land and money and buildings decided to make a sport out of art,
14aBased on the old heathen Roman idea called division of labor,
15Except that it was completely different, of course.
16bUnder the old heathen Roman way, Patricians would think up some huge project, and then the plebeians would do it.
17cUnder the new Renaissance way, called “patronage,” popes, nobles, and other Christians who had lots of land and money and buildings would think up an art project, and then a Giant would do it,
18dWhile the “patrons” watched,
19eAnd pointed out mistakes,
20fAnd made other kinds of constructive criticism,
21gAnd looked at their watches a lot.
22This eventually came to be called ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy,’
23Which was divided up in such a way that the Patrons got all the hEcstasy,
24While the Giants got all the iAgony.
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Chapter 10 / 16