1. The Starry Night was painted in a psych ward.

For the first of our art facts, we talk about one of the most famous art pieces in history. Vincent
van Gogh painted the piece during his stay at the Saint Paul de Mausole Psychiatric hospital in
Saint Remy. The painting depicts the town he saw through his room window along with his
additional visions.

2. The sculpture of David was originally going to be a statue of Hercules.

The marble slab that was originally planned to be used by Agostino di Duccio was cut 3 years

early by Michelangelo into the David statue. Michelangelo began working on the sculpture in

1501 and completed it in 1504.

3. There are four versions of The Scream.

Edvard Munch painted four different versions of the famous painting, The Scream. The first
version was painted in 1893 and was exhibited in Oslo. In the same year, a pastel version was
 also made. The third version was said to be privately owned, and the last version was given
to the Munch Museum.

4. The Mona Lisa was not famous until it was stolen.

Before the year 1911, most people were not aware of the existence of the Mona Lisa. By this

time, the painting was already over 350 years old. Critics and scholars only began paying

attention to the art piece after it was stolen. Several people gathered to see the empty

exhibition of where the Mona Lisa was placed rather than to see the painting itself.

5. The largest statue in the world is the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Mount Rushmore began construction in 1927 and was completed 14 years later in 1941. It

features the heads of four former presidents of the United States. These include George

Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jeffers.

6. Van Gogh has only sold one painting during his lifetime.

During his time, Van Gogh struggled as an artist. Only one person has ever bought his paintings

from Van Gogh himself during the time he was alive. This painting was sold in Brussels for 400

Francs only a few months before he passed away.

7. The Creation of Adam

Michelangelo painted the fresco ceiling of the Sistine Chapel—including the most
famous panel called “The Creation of Adam,” which depicts God giving life to the first
man—entirely standing up. The artist invented a series of scaffolds specially designed to
attach to the chapel walls with brackets so he and his assistants could be close enough to
the ceiling to reach above their heads to work and paint.

8. Girl with a Pearl Earring

Much like the Mona Lisa, the subject of Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl
Earring has been highly contested—but for the most likely candidate, Vermeer didn’t
have to look far. The model for his painting is thought to be his daughter Maria.
9. The Persistence of Memory
Though the notoriously plucky artist Salvador Dali sought to never explain his own work,
he has said that the idea for his iconic melting clocks came from chunks of Camembert
cheese he observed melting in the sun—although he may have been joking.

10. The Last Supper

Da Vinci’s other most famous work—which can be seen in the Convent of Santa Maria
delle Grazie in Milan, Italy—originally included Jesus’ feet. But in 1652, while installing
a doorway in the refectory where the painting is on view, builders cut into the bottom-
center of the mural, lopping off Jesus’ feet.