Most people associate Italian Renaissance artists with the magnificent works that they created throughout their time inducing; Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in Paris & The Last Supper in Milan, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican. What people don’t realize are the artist’s bad tempers that arose when something didn’t go according to plan in their lives. In fact, according to their patrons, these artists proved difficult to work with. Find out all about the Italian renaissance artists tempers:

Brunelleschi | Bitterness Towards Distrust 

Brunelleschi is the artist responsible for what many say is the “greatest engineering feat of the Renaissance”. His dome in Florence dominates the skyline, and cast’s an enormous shadow over the Tuscany region. But before creating the dome, Brunelleschi was asked by the cathedral officials to see his plans to the vault opening. Angry that they did not trust his skills, he ensured the officials that anyone capable of standing an egg on end had the intelligence to accomplish the task. Other contenders tried but ultimately failed at this task. When Brunelleschi’s time came up he cracked the egg and set it upright. There was much objection to his act but he countered that objection by responding, “And, if you knew how I am to build the dome, you would consider that simple as well”. After this, the cathedral officials no longer bothered him.

Michelangelo | Opposition of Stinginess

After completing The Doni Tondo painting, now in the Uffizi gallery in Florence, Michelangelo sent his finished piece to his patron, Agnolo Doni. He sent a note with his painting asking the patron to pay 70 ducats, gold currency for this period, for the portrait. Doni ignored this note, believing that it was too much money to spend, so he sent the messenger away with only 40 ducats. When Michelangelo only received 40 ducats he was fuming – he returned the money to Doni and demanded that he give his painting back or pay 100 ducats for it. Having liked the painting, Doni agreed to pay the original amount of 70 ducats, but Michelangelo was far from satisfied. Michelangelo demanded double the original price for the painting!

Donatello | Defiance Towards Greed

The famous renaissance artist Donatello often refused to kneel to stingy patrons. One patron in particular encouraged him to reveal his bad temper- after creating a bronze head statue, Donatello set a price that he thought was appropriate to pay. However, this stingy patron refused to pay the asking price for the bronze head but instead of negotiating the price of the head, Donatello smashed his creation, completely destroying it. Shocked that Donatello would destroy one of his own pieces, the patron begged him to make another one and agreed to pay double the original asking price. This shows just how intense this Italian renaissance artists anger was!

Only the truly talented artists can afford to have bad tempers. Since the work from artists such as Michelangelo and Donatello were in such high demand, they could dictate the terms, subject matter, medium, and price to their patrons. Their tempers ultimately helped them gain the respect that they deserved as Renaissance artists.