Missed this one: "Hiram: Here! Here! Most of the art of the Renaissance - paintings, frescos, mosaics, murals, architecture, music - was commisioned by some wealthy businessman, royalty, or the church. JS Bach, DaVinci, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Donatello (and other Ninja Turtles!) were all handsomely paid for their work." Mozart died young and destitute; Rembrandt was deep in debt when he died; Van Gogh was driven mad by rejection and sold only one painting in his lifetime (to his brother); Emily Dickinson lived in an attic and wrote hundreds of poems, none of which were published before her death. Aesthetic success does not equal monetary success; just as often, the opposite is true.