By Leah Ornstein - Breaking Celebrity News Style & Beauty Editor

Sassy songbird Nicki Minaj is featured on the November 2011 cover of W Magazine’s annual Art Issue, where artist Francesco Vezzoli refashioned the sassy singer into an 18th century courtesan – and Breaking Celebrity News has the photos of her shocking transformation.

Vezzoli reveals that he was interested in working with the chart-topping Super Bass singer, because he wanted to “play up the image of a female hip-hop star.”

“In her performances, Minaj makes very explicit and challenging use of her beauty and her body, so I thought of comparing her to some of the most famous courtesans in history: the Marquise de Montespan, Comtesse du Barry, Madame de Pompadour, and Madame Rimsky-Korsakov,” explains Vezzoli of his inspiration.

For more on Nicki Minaj’s fabulous W Magazine photo shoot, pick up the November 2011 issue or click here.