LEONARDO DA VINCI & SALAI (1490 ce)

The Renaissance master Leonardo Da Vinci must have loved his assistant Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno (nicknamed Salai, which means “little devil”). After living with the young hellion for a year, Leonardo listed Salai’s vices, calling him “a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton". Salai stole money and valuables and his art was inferior next to Leonardo’s; yet clearly something about Salai endeared him to Leonardo, since he kept him around for thirty more years and featured him in several drawings and paintings.