Entertainers were a popular feature of court life in the Italian Renaissance. Here are two jokes that Leonardo wrote, and may well have told to members of the court of his various patrons:
A priest, making parish rounds on Easter Eve and sprinkling holy water at each house, as is customary, came to a painterΓÇÖs room, where he proceeded to sprinkle water on some of his pictures. The painter turned to him, rather angered, and asked him why this sprinkling had been done to his pictures. The priest replied that it was the custom and his duty to do so, that he was doing good, and that a person who did good might look for good in return, since God had promised that every good deed done on earth would be rewarded a hundred-fold from above. The painter waited till the priest went out, then went to an upper window and flung a large pail of water on the priestΓÇÖs back, saying: ΓÇÿHere is the reward a hundred-fold from above, which you said would come from the good you had done me with your
