The rich man who gives, steals twice over. First he steals the money and then the hearts of men.

No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love.

One can easily tell that the creator of the paintings in the Sistine Chapel was above all a sculptor

If what you want to paint is the emotive mood in all its strength... then you must not sit and stare at everything and depict it exactly as one sees it.

Death is pitch-dark, but colors are light. To be a painter, one must work with rays of light.

I have no fear of photography as long as it cannot be used in heaven and in hell.

Without fear and disease, my life would be like a boat without oars.