Art

Vincenzo Peruggia hid in a Louvre broom closet in 1911 and walked out with the Mona Lisa under his coat. These stories cover the people and the objects of art, along with the odd facts around them. Picasso answered a German officer in occupied Paris with a sharp line about Guernica. Hokusai chased a paint-dipped chicken across paper and called the red trail a river. Dalí blamed a melting Camembert for his soft watches. Jane Austen published without her name, and her first book said only "By a Lady." Bosch left little behind, and no letters at all.

• ArtUntil the 17th century, the word art meant any skill at all. Cooking and farming counted, as in ancient Greek techne.

  11 min
• Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da Vinci wrote most of his notes in mirror-image cursive, right to left.

  12 min
• Pablo PicassoA German officer in occupied Paris asked Picasso if he painted Guernica. "No," Picasso replied. "You did."

  11 min
• Claude MonetImpressionism began as a critic's insult. Claude Monet's painting Impression, Sunrise gave it the name.

  10 min
• Mary ShelleyMary Shelley conceived Frankenstein in a waking dream after Lord Byron proposed a ghost story contest.

  13 min
• Jane AustenJane Austen died in 1817 without her name on any of her novels. Her first book said only "By a Lady."

  12 min
• Andy WarholAndy Warhol was shot at his Factory studio in June 1968 by a writer who had appeared in his film.

  17 min
• Vincent van GoghMore than 600 letters to his brother Theo hold most of what is known of Van Gogh's thoughts.

  11 min
• HokusaiHokusai once won a contest by chasing a paint-dipped chicken across paper. He called the red trail a river.

  8 min
• The Persistence of MemoryDalí said his melting watches came from a Camembert cheese melting in the sun.

  5 min
• Hieronymus BoschHieronymus Bosch left no letters or diaries, only his paintings.

  9 min
• Mona LisaA Louvre worker hid in a broom closet and carried the Mona Lisa out under his coat. Vincenzo Peruggia stole it in 1911.

  23 min
• David (Michelangelo)Two sculptors gave up on the marble block that became Michelangelo's David. He got the job in 1501, at age 26.

  21 min
• Frida KahloFrida Kahlo had her four-poster bed carried into her first Mexican solo show. She spent the opening party lying in it.

  17 min
• Sistine Chapel ceilingMichelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling standing up, not lying on his back. Popular belief says otherwise.

  16 min
• CaravaggioCaravaggio's Grooms' Madonna hung in Saint Peter's Basilica for exactly two days.

  15 min