The story behind the story… That’ll cost you an arm and a leg Long before the camera was invented, one had to pose for their likeness to be painted or sculpted. We know that George Washington’s face is immediately recognized by most American schoolchildren, but that recognition does not come from seeing actual pictures of our first president. We all depend on the artist’s reliability and hope their rendition was accurate. So if you lived during that time and wanted your likeness preserved for all eternity, you could hire a sculpture or painter. Of course, it would cost you. They didn’t charge by the hour, nor by the job. Your payment was based on how much presence you wanted portrayed. For example, if you posed while standing behind a desk and held one arm behind your back, you may qualify for the cheap economy package-deal. However, if you posed by revealing more limbs (arms and/or legs), the artist would charge more. Because hands and legs were difficult to paint (or sculpt) to perfection, each exposed limb raised the cost of the project. Therefore, such full-figured replications did cost at least an arm and a leg. Hmmmm…So was Napoleon Bonaparte cheap or did he just have a bad looking (or tough to paint) right hand? The answer may be found here: napoleon-series.org/faq/c_hand.html Have a great week! Cheers, John John P. Polheber Adjunct Instructor - CJFR Source: Stanley J. St. Claire’s Most Comprehensive Origins of Clichés, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 18:38:27 +0000
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