Last Saturday I went to the MET for the symposium “Michelangelo and His World in the 1490s”. Presented by some of the most distinguished Michelangelo`s scholars, there was a lot of in-depth info on this very exceptional artist. Here are some of the most curious trivia I learned:

  • He was an exceptional painter and art forger from a very early age (when he was 12 years old he forged and smoked to make it look old, church paintings) and that`s why his father enrolled in an art studio at 13, even though the minimum age was 14.
  • He had an “art factory” (sorry, Andy or Damian, he was there first), designing and sometimes drawing “blockbusters” which were later drawn in 20 or 30 copy or version runs.
  • He was the first to depart from “realism” in color: he often painted “blocks of color”, for strength and dramatic effect.

I networked a bit to discuss some scholarly work I am doing on Michelangelo (more on that in a few months) and then went to the subway. On the way there I found a church, with a quote I always considered interesting beyond the obvious reasons (food for thought):

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

I like to contrast it with this other quote:

We must accept that which we can not change, and change that which we can not accept.

So I went to Madison Square park. Across the street, Worth Square, there are a ton of food stands (Madison Square Eats, until June 1st), one of the many NY Street Festivals that show up everywhere with the wonderful weather we are enjoying right now. I grabbed some arancini and casatta (the lobster roll and canoli will be next), headed for the park and enjoyed the meal al fresco with squirrels all around.