Michaelangelo Buonarotti once said that “[a] man paints with his brains and not with his hands.”
Perhaps the greatest artist in human history, he is most famous for his painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel as well as for his marble statues of David and the Pieta—a sculpture of Mary holding in her arms the body of the crucified Christ. They are unparalleled works of creative genius and artistic beauty.
But the stunning quality of his work is also matched by its quantity: There are nearly 200 known works of art by Michaelangelo, and many more that he abandoned in the process, because he deemed them not up to his standard. He was a perfectionist, and also said that “[i]f people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”
Artistic masterpieces like Michaelangelo’s works are easy to appreciate. But we must not forget the difficulty that he endured to create them: the dedication, the commitment to process, the years of labor that it took to produce just one work of brilliance.
Few of us will ever be able to relate to Michaelangelo’s genius. But we can understand a central lesson of his life and career: excellence always comes at the price of hard work. Enjoy your time in Mrs. Blecke’s class; have fun creating the beautiful works she is teaching you how to create; but always remember that producing true art requires serious and sustained effort—and that you paint with your brains and not with your hands.
Have a wonderful day.
