this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2024
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I would argue that it is literally never the question you should ask, assuming you get to ask a single question of a master in your craft. It's honestly an embarrassment of a question in that scenario. It's just a complete waste of the precious access you have to real talent.
You could maybe ask your contemporaries that question instead.
Do you think a theoretical physicist would ask Einstein what type of pencil he used?
Einstein didn't use a pencil. He used a fountain pen. I know that because someone asked him.
This is absolutely perfect. With this information one is no closer to knowing anything at all about theoretical physics, and one has incurred the opportunity cost of asking a question that gets them no closer to knowing anything about theoretical physics.
This is where the artist of the original cartoon was careful to clarify the ultimate goal of the asker was to do what Michaelangelo does, at the level that Michaelangelo does it.
If one doesn't care to learn about the craft, then it's a tidbit. An anecdote to share at parties. The solution to an escoteric crossword puzzle.
If you want to become a similar master of the craft, it's a waste of a question.
In the case of Michelangelo it is a relevant question though.
At the time it was seemingly impossible to create these kinds of statues using conventional sculpturing techniques. If you try to chisel these shapes in large blocks off marble it would absolutely break in unintended places from chiseling.
Had he used a special tool, then that would have been the simple explanation.
He didn't use special tools though, so having him confirm that he did indeed use a regular round chisel (and a rasp) is crucial to understanding how it was done.
The confirmation is the key information to even start thinking of the follow-up question "how the hell did you do that then?"
Answering "bro, it's my talent" is of very little use to anyone.
From studying his unfinished works historians have been able to figure it out. He used knowledge of counter weight. By leaving large parts of the marble block untouched until the end he managed to balance the marble so that it would not break unintentionally.
A curious fact is that he always kept his unfinished works secret or covered. Nobody was allowed to see it before he was done. He intended to keep his technique secret.