scrb

Well like I said before, the great painters were brand names in their time, often getting big commissions because of what they'd done, whose school they came out of, etc.

And they're big brands now, which is why people trek to see Giotto, Leonardo, Michelangelo, etc. A lot of the works owned by major museums will never go to auction because they're worth so much more in revenues than what they could possibly fetch.

But can you imagine if they tried to auction bits of the Sistine Chapel or the Mona Lisa?

PalenQ

so if so i conclude that there were many artists perhaps nearly as good or even better than the Michelangelo types who, thru political connections perhaps got commissions and thus cemented their reputations.

but the poor artist doing similar great work may have gone to the dustbin of history just because he didn't find a patron.

or was it only the greatest artists who won patronage - i think not personally. So art is also subjective.

Few folks would glance even at La Joconde in the Louvre except for all the hype around it - just another old painting.