Strange Facts About Eccentric Artists
Artists are a special, eccentric breed. Some are hermits, while others hide dark pasts. Other times, well, artists are just plain weird. Let's just say that after reading this list, you may never look at Victor Hugo the same way again.
1. Leonardo da Hippy
Famed Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci is well known for his gifted mind and brilliant artwork. What’s slightly less known about him is the fact that da Vinci was not only a strict vegetarian, but he was also passionate about animal rights.
He would buy caged birds from the Renaissance equivalent of pet stores just so he could set them free.
2. At Least It Wasn’t a Moose
Lord Byron, famed English poet, was a student at Cambridge when he took umbrage at the university's ban on keeping dogs as pets.
So Byron decided to get technical with them: Nowhere in the fine print did Byron find a clause that forbade bears from the campus, presumably because they’d never had to deal with a lunatic before.
Byron not only found a bear to keep as a pet, he also took it on a leash around the grounds.
3. He Must Have Really Missed Pre-School
Alexandre Dumas, known for The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, felt very strongly that all his works must be presented on colored paper. He wanted all his fiction presented on blue paper, his articles on pink paper, and his poetry on yellow paper.
4. Well, That Works
We’ve all dealt with procrastination in various ways, but Ancient Greek orator Demosthenes had a brilliant solution for himself.
He would shave half his head, which was such a ridiculous look that he was forced to stay inside and complete his writing until the hair grew back.
Getty Images The bust of Demosthenes (Roman copy 2nd century A.D.) can be seen in the exhibition "Strong Types. Greek Portraits of Antiquity".