When the grand hall was being built in Florence, the committee in charge of decorations asked the most important artist in all of Italy, Leonardo da Vinci, to submit some drawings. There seemed to be little question that such an important hall should bear the mark of anyone but da Vinci, but other artists also were asked to submit drawings. One of the committee members had heard of a new and very young artist by the name of Michelangelo, and asked him to enter the competition. The sketches by Leonardo were magnificent, but when the whole committee saw the work of Michelangelo, they were so enthused that they gave him the job. When the news of the committee's choice and the comments concerning Michelangelo's work reached Leonardo, the old artist went into a decline from which he never recov…