gone to see it several times (mounting certain ladders with the
assistance of Michelagnolo), insisted that it should be thrown open,
for he was hasty and impatient by nature, and could not wait for it to
be completely finished and to receive, as the saying is, the final
touch. No sooner was it thrown open than all Rome was drawn to see it,
and the Pope was the first, not having the patience to wait until the
dust caused by the dismantling of the scaffolding had settled.
Thereupon Raffaello da Urbino, who was very excellent in imitation,
after seeing it straightway changed his manner, and without losing any
time, in order to display his ability, painted the Prophets and Sibyls
in the work of the Pace; and at the same time Bramante sought to have
the other half of the chapel entrusted by the Pope to Raffaello. Which
hearing, Michelagnolo complained of Bramante, and revealed to the Pope
without any reserve many faults both in his life and in his
architectural works; of which last, in the building of S. Pietro, as
was seen afterwards, Michelagnolo became the corrector. But the Pope,
recognizing more clearly every day the ability of Michelagnolo,
desired that he should continue the work, judging, after he had seen
it uncovered, that he could make the second half considerably better;
and so in twenty months he carried that work to perfect completion by
himself alone, without the assistance even of anyone to grind his
colours. Michelagnolo complained at times that on account of the haste
that the Pope imposed on him he was not able to finish it in his own
fashion, as he would have liked; for his Holiness was always asking
him importunately when he would finish it. On one occasion, among
others, he replied, "It will be finished when I shall have satisfied
myself in the matter of art." "But it is our pleasure," answered the
Pope, "that you should satisfy us in our desire to have it done
quickly;" and he added, finally, that if Michelagnolo did not finish
the work quickly he would have him thrown down from the scaffolding.
Whereupon Michelagnolo, who feared and had good reason to fear the
anger of the Pope, straightway finished all that was wanting, without
losing any time, and, after taking down the rest of the scaffolding,
threw it open to view on the morning of All Saints' Day, when the Pope
went into the chapel to sing Mass, to the great satisfaction of the
whole city. Michelagnolo desired to retouch some parts "a secco," as
the old masters had done on the scenes below, painting backgrounds,
draperies, and skies in ultramarine, and ornaments in gold in certain
places, to the end that this might produce greater richness and a more
striking effect; and the Pope, having learned that this ornamentation
was wanting, and hearing the work praised so much by all who had seen
it, wished him to finish it; but, since it would have been too long a
labour for Michelagnolo to rebuild the scaffolding, it was left as it
was. His Holiness, often seeing Michelagnolo, would say to him that
the chapel should be enriched with colours and gold, since it looked
poor. And Michelagnolo would answer familiarly, "Holy Father, in those
times men did not bedeck themselves with gold, and those that are
painted there were never very rich, but rather holy men, on which
account they despised riches."
For this work Michelagnolo was paid by the Pope three thousand crowns
on several occasions, of which he had to spend twenty-five on colours.
The work was executed with very great discomfort to himself, from his
having to labour with his face upwards, which so impaired his sight
that for a time, which was not less than several months, he was not
able to read letters or look at drawings save with his head backwards.
And to this I can bear witness, having painted five vaulted chambers
in the great apartments in the Palace of Duke Cosimo, when, if I had
not made a chair on which I could rest my head and lie down at my
work, I would never have finished it; even so, it has so ruined my
sight and injured my head, that I still feel the effects, and I am
astonished that Michelagnolo endured all that discomfort so well. But
in truth, becoming more and more kindled every day by his fervour in
the work, and encouraged by the proficience and improvement that he
made, he felt no fatigue and cared nothing for discomfort.
[Illustration: THE CREATION OF ADAM
(_After the fresco by =Michelagnolo=. Rome: The Vatican, Sistine
Chapel_)
_Anderson_]
The distribution of this work is contrived with six pendentives on
either side, with one in the centre of the walls at the foot and at
the head, and on these he painted Sibyls and Prophets, six braccia in
height; in the centre of the vault the history of the world from the
Creation down to the Deluge and the Drunkenness of Noah, and in the
lunettes all the Genealogy of Christ. In these compartments he used no
rule of perspectives in foreshortening, nor is there any fixed point
of view, but he accommodated the compartments to the figures rather
than the figures to the compartments, being satisfied to execute those
figures, both the nude and the draped, with the perfection of design,
so that another such work has never been and never can be done, and it
is scarcely possible even to imitate his achievement. This work, in
truth, has been and still is the lamp of our art, and has bestowed
such benefits and shed so much light on the art of painting, that
it has served to illuminate a world that had lain in darkness for so
many hundreds of years. And it is certain that no man who is a painter
need think any more to see new inventions, attitudes, and draperies
for the clothing of figures, novel manners of expression, and things
painted with greater variety and force, because he gave to this work
all the perfection that can be given to any work executed in such a
field of art. And at the present day everyone is amazed who is able to
perceive in it the excellence of the figures, the perfection of the
foreshortenings, and the extraordinary roundness of the contours,
which have in them slenderness and grace, being drawn with the beauty
of proportion that is seen in beautiful nudes; and these, in order to
display the supreme perfection of art, he made of all ages, different
in expression and in form, in countenance and in outline, some more
slender and some fuller in the members; as may also be seen in the
beautiful attitudes, which are all different, some seated, some
moving, and others upholding certain festoons of oak-leaves and
acorns, placed there as the arms and device of Pope Julius, and
signifying that at that time and under his government was the age of
gold; for Italy was not then in the travail and misery that she has
since suffered. Between them, also, they hold some medallions
containing stories in relief in imitation of bronze and gold, taken
from the Book of Kings.
[Illustration: THE FALL AND THE EXPULSION
(_After the fresco by =Michelagnolo=. Rome: The Vatican, Sistine
Chapel_)
_Anderson_]
Besides this, in order to display the perfection of art and also the
greatness of God, he painted in a scene God dividing Light from
Darkness, wherein may be seen His Majesty as He rests self-sustained
with the arms outstretched, and reveals both love and power. In the
second scene he depicted with most beautiful judgment and genius God
creating the Sun and Moon, in which He is supported by many little
Angels, in an attitude sublime and terrible by reason of the
foreshortenings in the arms and legs. In the same scene Michelagnolo
depicted Him after the Blessing of the Earth and the Creation of the
Animals, when He is seen on that vaulting as a figure flying in
foreshortening; and wherever you go throughout the chapel, it turns
constantly and faces in every direction. So, also, in the next scene,
where He is dividing the Water from the Earth; and both these are
very beautiful figures and refinements of genius such as could be
produced only by the divine hands of Michelagnolo. He then went on,
beyond that scene, to the Creation of Adam, wherein he figured God as
borne by a group of nude Angels of tender age, which appear to be
supporting not one figure only, but the whole weight of the world;
this effect being produced by the venerable majesty of His form and by
the manner of the movement with which He embraces some of the little
Angels with one arm, as if to support Himself, and with the other
extends the right hand towards Adam, a figure of such a kind in its
beauty, in the attitude, and in the outlines, that it appears as if
newly fashioned by the first and supreme Creator rather than by the
brush and design of a mortal man. Beyond this, in another scene, he
made God taking our mother Eve from Adam's side, in which may be seen
those two nude figures, one as it were dead from his being the thrall
of sleep, and the other become alive and filled with animation by the
blessing of God. Very clearly do we see from the brush of this most
gifted craftsman the difference that there is between sleep and
wakefulness, and how firm and stable, speaking humanly, the Divine
Majesty may appear.
Next to this there follows the scene when Adam, at the persuasion of a
figure half woman and half serpent, brings death upon himself and upon
us by the Forbidden Fruit; and there, also, are seen Adam and Eve
driven from Paradise. In the figure of the Angel is shown with
nobility and grandeur the execution of the mandate of a wrathful Lord,
and in the attitude of Adam the sorrow for his sin together with the
fear of death, as likewise in the woman may be seen shame, abasement,
and the desire to implore pardon, as she presses the arms to the
breast, clasps the hands palm to palm, and sinks the neck into the
bosom, and also turns the head towards the Angel, having more fear of
the justice of God than hope in His mercy. Nor is there less beauty in
the story of the sacrifice of Cain and Abel; wherein are some who are
bringing up the wood, some who are bent down and blowing at the fire,
and others who are cutting the throat of the victim; which certainly
is all executed with not less consideration and attention than the
others. He showed the same art and the same judgment in the story of
the Deluge, wherein are seen various deaths of men, who, terrified by
the horror of those days, are striving their utmost in different ways
to save their lives. For in the faces of those figures may be seen
life a prey to death, not less than fear, terror, and disregard of
everything; and compassion is visible in many that are assisting one
another to climb to the summit of a rock in search of safety, among
them one who, having embraced one half dead, is striving his utmost to
save him, than which Nature herself could show nothing better. Nor can
I tell how well expressed is the story of Noah, who, drunk with wine,
is sleeping naked, and has before him one son who is laughing at him
and two who are covering him up--a scene incomparable in the beauty of
the artistry, and not to be surpassed save by himself alone.
[Illustration: THE LYBIAN SIBYL
(_After the fresco by =Michelagnolo=. Rome: The Vatican, Sistine
Chapel_)
_Anderson_]
Then, as if his genius had taken courage from what it had achieved up
to that time, it soared upwards and proved itself even greater in the
five Sibyls and seven Prophets that are painted there, each five
braccia or more in height. In all these are well-varied attitudes,
beautiful draperies, and different vestments; and all, in a word, are
wrought with marvellous invention and judgment, and to him who can
distinguish their expressions they appear divine. Jeremiah is seen
with the legs crossed, holding one hand to the beard, and resting that
elbow on the knee; the other hand rests in his lap, and he has the
head bowed in a manner that clearly demonstrates the melancholy,
cogitation, anxious thought and bitterness of soul that his people
cause him. Equally fine, also, are two little children that are behind
him, and likewise the first Sibyl, beyond him in the direction of the
door, in which figure, wishing to depict old age, in addition to
enveloping her in draperies, he sought to show that her blood is
already frozen by time; besides which, since her sight has become
feeble, he has made her as she reads bring the book very close to her
eyes. Beyond this figure follows the Prophet Ezekiel, an old man, who
has a grace and a movement that are most beautiful, and is much
enveloped in draperies, while with one hand he holds a roll of
prophecies, and with the other uplifted, turning his head, he appears
to be about to utter great and lofty words; and behind him he has two
boys who hold his books. Next to him follows a Sibyl, who is doing the
contrary to the Erythræan Sibyl that we described above, for, holding
her book away from her, she seeks to turn a page, while with one knee
over the other she sits sunk within herself, pondering gravely over
what she is to write; and then a boy who is behind her, blowing on a
burning brand, lights her lamp. This figure is of extraordinary beauty
in the expression of the face, in the head-dress, and in the
arrangement of the draperies; besides which she has the arms nude,
which are equal to the other parts. Beyond this Sibyl he painted the
Prophet Joel, who, sunk within himself, has taken a scroll and reads
it with great attention and appreciation: and from his aspect it is so
clearly evident that he is satisfied with that which he finds written
there, that he looks like a living person who has applied his thoughts
intently to some matter. Over the door of the chapel, likewise, he
placed the aged Zaccharias, who, seeking through his written book for
something that he cannot find, stands with one leg on high and the
other low; and, while the ardour of the search after something that he
cannot find causes him to stand thus, he takes no notice of the
discomfort that he suffers in such a posture. This figure is very
beautiful in its aspect of old age, and somewhat full in form, and has
draperies with few folds, which are most beautiful. In addition, there
is another Sibyl, who is next in the direction of the altar on the
other side, displaying certain writings, and, with her boys in
attendance, is no less worthy of praise than are the others. Beyond
her is the Prophet Isaiah, who, wholly absorbed in his own thoughts,
has the legs crossed over one another, and, holding one hand in his
book to mark the place where he was reading, has placed the elbow of
the other arm upon the book, with the cheek pressed against the hand;
and, being called by one of the boys that he has behind him, he turns
only the head, without disturbing himself otherwise. Whoever shall
consider his countenance, shall see touches truly taken from Nature
herself, the true mother of art, and a figure which, when well studied
in every part, can teach in liberal measure all the precepts of the
good painter. Beyond this Prophet is an aged Sibyl of great beauty,
who, as she sits, studies from a book in an attitude of extraordinary
grace, not to speak of the beautiful attitudes of the two boys that
are about her. Nor may any man think with all his imaginings to be
able to attain to the excellence of the figure of a youth representing
Daniel, who, writing in a great book, is taking certain things from
other writings and copying them with extraordinary attention; and as
a support for the weight of the book Michelagnolo painted a boy
between his legs, who is upholding it while he writes, all which no
brush held by a human hand, however skilful, will ever be able to
equal. And so, also, with the beautiful figure of the Libyan Sibyl,
who, having written a great volume drawn from many books, is in an
attitude of womanly grace, as if about to rise to her feet; and in one
and the same movement she makes as if to rise and to close the book--a
thing most difficult, not to say impossible, for any other but the
master of the work.
And what can be said of the four scenes at the corners, on the
spandrels of that vaulting; in one of which David, with all the boyish
strength that he can exert in the conquest of a giant, is cutting off
his head, bringing marvel to the faces of some soldiers who are about
the camp. And so, also, do men marvel at the beautiful attitudes that
Michelagnolo depicted in the story of Judith, at the opposite corner,
in which may be seen the trunk of Holofernes, robbed of life but still
quivering, while Judith is placing the lifeless head in a basket on
the head of her old serving-woman, who, being tall in stature, is
stooping to the end that Judith may be able to reach up to her and
adjust the weight well; and the servant, while upholding the burden
with her hands, seeks to conceal it, and, turning her head towards the
trunk, which, although dead, draws up an arm and a leg and makes a
noise in the tent, she shows in her expression fear of the camp and
terror of the dead body--a picture truly full of thought. But more
beautiful and more divine than this or any of the others is the story
of the Serpents of Moses, which is above the left-hand corner of the
altar; for the reason that in it is seen the havoc wrought by death,
the rain of serpents, their stings and their bites, and there may also
be perceived the serpent of brass that Moses placed upon a pole. In
this scene are shown vividly the various deaths that those die who are
robbed of all hope by the bite of the serpents, and one sees the
deadly venom causing vast numbers to die in terror and convulsions, to
say nothing of the rigid legs and twisted arms of those who remain in
the attitudes in which they were struck down, unable to move, and the
marvellous heads that are shrieking and thrown backwards in despair.
Not less beautiful than all these are those who, having looked upon
the serpent, and feeling their pains alleviated by the sight of it,
are gazing on it with profound emotion; and among them is a woman who
is supported by another figure in such a manner that the assistance
rendered to her by him who upholds her is no less manifest than her
pressing need in such sudden alarm and hurt. In the next scene,
likewise, in which Ahasuerus, reclining in a bed, is reading his
chronicles, are figures of great beauty, and among them three figures
eating at a table, which represent the council that was held for the
deliverance of the Jewish people and the hanging of Haman. The figure
of Haman was executed by Michelagnolo in an extraordinary manner of
foreshortening, for he counterfeited the trunk that supports his
person, and that arm which comes forward, not as painted things but as
real and natural, standing out in relief, and so also that leg which
he stretches outwards and other parts that bend inwards: which figure,
among all that are beautiful and difficult, is certainly the most
beautiful and the most difficult.
[Illustration: DECORATIVE FIGURE
(_After the fresco by =Michelagnolo Buonarroti=. Rome: Sistine
Chapel_)
_Anderson_]
It would take too long to describe all the beautiful fantasies in the
different actions in the part where there is all the Genealogy of the
Fathers, beginning with the sons of Noah, to demonstrate the Genealogy
of Jesus Christ, in which figures is a variety of things that it is
not possible to enumerate, such as draperies, expressions of heads,
and an infinite number of novel and extraordinary fancies, all most
beautifully considered. Nothing there but is carried into execution
with genius: all the figures there are masterly and most beautifully
foreshortened, and everything that you look at is divine and beyond
praise. And who will not be struck dumb with admiration at the sight
of the sublime force of Jonas, the last figure in the chapel, wherein
by the power of art the vaulting, which in fact springs forward in
accord with the curve of the masonry, yet, being in appearance pushed
back by that figure, which bends inwards, seems as if straight, and,
vanquished by the art of design with its lights and shades, even
appears in truth to recede inwards? Oh, truly happy age of ours, and
truly blessed craftsmen! Well may you be called so, seeing that in our
time you have been able to illumine anew in such a fount of light
the darkened sight of your eyes, and to see all that was difficult
made smooth by a master so marvellous and so unrivalled! Certainly the
glory of his labours makes you known and honoured, in that he has
stripped from you that veil which you had over the eyes of your minds,
which were so full of darkness, and has delivered the truth from the
falsehood that overshadowed your intellects. Thank Heaven, therefore,
for this, and strive to imitate Michelagnolo in everything.
When the work was thrown open, the whole world could be heard running
up to see it, and, indeed, it was such as to make everyone astonished
and dumb. Wherefore the Pope, having been magnified by such a result
and encouraged in his heart to undertake even greater enterprises,
rewarded Michelagnolo liberally with money and rich gifts: and
Michelagnolo would say at times of the extraordinary favours that the
Pope conferred upon him, that they showed that he fully recognized his
worth, and that, if by way of proving his friendliness he sometimes
played him strange tricks, he would heal the wound with signal gifts
and favours. As when, Michelagnolo once demanding from him leave to go
to Florence for the festival of S. John, and asking money for that
purpose, the Pope said, "Well, but when will you have this chapel
finished?" "As soon as I can, Holy Father." The Pope, who had a staff
in his hand, struck Michelagnolo, saying, "As soon as I can! As soon
as I can! I will soon make you finish it!" Whereupon Michelagnolo went
back to his house to get ready to go to Florence; but the Pope
straightway sent Cursio, his Chamberlain, to Michelagnolo with five
hundred crowns to pacify him, fearing lest he might commit one of his
caprices, and Cursio made excuse for the Pope, saying that such things
were favours and marks of affection. And Michelagnolo, who knew the
Pope's nature and, after all, loved him, laughed over it all, for he
saw that in the end everything turned to his profit and advantage, and
that the Pontiff would do anything to keep a man such as himself as
his friend.
When the chapel was finished, before the Pope was overtaken by death,
his Holiness commanded Cardinal Santiquattro and Cardinal Aginense,
his nephew, in the event of his death, that they should cause his
tomb to be finished, but on a smaller scale than before. To this work
Michelagnolo set himself once again, and so made a beginning gladly
with the tomb, hoping to carry it once and for all to completion
without so many impediments; but he had from it ever afterwards
vexations, annoyances, and travails, more than from any other work
that he did in all his life, and it brought upon him for a long time,
in a certain sense, the accusation of being ungrateful to that Pope,
who had so loved and favoured him. Thus, when he had returned to the
tomb, and was working at it continually, and also at times preparing
designs from which he might be able to execute the façades of the
chapel, envious Fortune decreed that that memorial, which had been
begun with such perfection, should be left unfinished. For at that
time there took place the death of Pope Julius, and the work was
abandoned on account of the election of Pope Leo X, who, being no less
splendid than Julius in mind and spirit, had a desire to leave in his
native city (of which he was the first Pope), in memory of himself and
of a divine craftsman who was his fellow-citizen, such marvels as only
a mighty Prince like himself could undertake. Wherefore he gave orders
that the façade of S. Lorenzo, a church built by the Medici family in
Florence, should be erected for him, which was the reason that the
work of the tomb of Julius was left unfinished; and he demanded advice
and designs from Michelagnolo, and desired that he should be the head
of that work. Michelagnolo made all the resistance that he could,
pleading that he was pledged in the matter of the tomb to Santiquattro
and Aginense, but the Pope answered him that he was not to think of
that, and that he himself had already seen to it and contrived that
Michelagnolo should be released by them; promising, also, that he
should be able to work in Florence, as he had already begun to do, at
the figures for that tomb. All this was displeasing to the Cardinals,
and also to Michelagnolo, who went off in tears.
[Illustration: THE NEW SACRISTY
(_After =Michelangelo=. Florence: S. Lorenzo_)
_Alinari_]