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[Illustration: MICHELANGELO BUONAROTTI (ATTRIBUTED TO BUGIARDINI)
_Uffizi Gallery, Florence_]
The Riverside Art Series
MICHELANGELO
A COLLECTION OF FIFTEEN PICTURES
AND A PORTRAIT OF THE MASTER
WITH INTRODUCTION AND
INTERPRETATION
BY
ESTELLE M. HURLL
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1900
COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
PREFACE
In making a collection of prints from the works of Michelangelo, it is
impossible to secure any wide variety, either in subject or method of
treatment. We are dealing here with a master whose import is always
serious, and whose artistic individuality is strongly impressed on all
his works, either in sculpture or painting. Our selections represent
his best work in both arts. These are arranged, not in chronological
order, but in a way which will lead the student from the subjects most
familiar and easily understood to those which are more abstract and
difficult.
ESTELLE M. HURLL.
NEW BEDFORD, MASS.
January, 1900.
CONTENTS AND LIST OF PICTURES
PORTRAIT OF MICHELANGELO. ATTRIBUTED TO BUGIARDINI.
_Frontispiece._
INTRODUCTION
I. ON MICHELANGELO'S CHARACTER AS AN ARTIST
II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE
III. HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE WORKS OF ART IN THIS COLLECTION
IV. COLLATERAL READINGS FROM LITERATURE
V. OUTLINE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN MICHELANGELO'S LIFE
VI. SOME OF MICHELANGELO'S FAMOUS ITALIAN CONTEMPORARIES
I. MADONNA AND CHILD
II. DAVID
III. CUPID
IV. MOSES
V. THE HOLY FAMILY
VI. THE PIETÀ
VII. CHRIST TRIUMPHANT
VIII. THE CREATION OF MAN
IX. JEREMIAH
X. DANIEL
XI. THE DELPHIC SIBYL
XII. THE CUMÆAN SIBYL
XIII. LORENZO DE' MEDICI
XIV. TOMB OF GIULIANO DE' MEDICI
XV. CENTRAL FIGURES FROM THE LAST JUDGMENT
XVI. PORTRAIT OF MICHELANGELO (_See Frontispiece_)
PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF PROPER NAMES AND FOREIGN WORDS
NOTE: All the pictures with the exception of the Cupid were
made from photographs by Fratelli Alinari. The Cupid was photographed
from the statue in the South Kensington Museum, London.
INTRODUCTION
I. ON MICHELANGELO'S CHARACTER AS AN ARTIST.
Michelangelo's place in the world of art is altogether unique. His
supremacy is acknowledged by all, but is understood by a few only. In
the presence of his works none can stand unimpressed, yet few dare to
claim any intimate knowledge of his art. The quality so vividly
described in the Italian word _terribilità_ is his predominant trait.
He is one to awe rather than to attract, to overwhelm rather than to
delight. The spectator must needs exclaim with humility, "Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto
it." Yet while Michelangelo can never be a popular artist in the
ordinary sense of the word, the powerful influence which he exercises
seems constantly increasing. Year by year there are more who, drawn by
the strange fascination of his genius, seek to read the meaning of his
art.
His subjects are all profoundly serious in intention. Life was no
holiday to this strenuous spirit; it was a stern conflict with the
powers of darkness in which such heroes as David and Moses were
needed. Like the old Hebrew prophets, the artist poured out his soul
in a vehement protest against evil, and a stirring call to
righteousness.
Considered both as a sculptor and a painter, Michelangelo's one
vehicle of expression was the human body. His works are "form-poems,"
through which he uttered his message to mankind. As he writes in one
of his own sonnets,
"Nor hath God deigned to show himself elsewhere
More clearly than in human forms sublime."
In his art, says the critic Symonds, "a well-shaped hand, or throat,
or head, a neck superbly poised on an athletic chest, the sway of the
trunk above the hips, the starting of the muscles on the flank, the
tendons of the ankle, the outline of the shoulder when the arm is
raised, the backward bending of the loins, the curves of a woman's
breast, the contours of a body careless in repose or strained for
action, were all words pregnant with profoundest meaning, whereby fit
utterance might be given to thoughts that raise man near to God."
Learning his first lessons in art of the Greeks, he soon possessed
himself of the great principles of classic sculpture. Then he boldly
struck out his own path; his was a spirit to lead, not to follow. With
the subtle Greek sense of line and form, he united an entirely new
motif. In contrast to the ideal of repose which was the leading canon
of the Greeks, his chosen ideal was one of action. Moreover, he
invariably fixed upon some decisive moment in the action he had to
represent, a moment which suggests both the one preceding and the one
following, and which gives us the whole story in epitome. Thus in the
David we see preparation, aim, and action. It was a far cry from the
elegant calm of the Greek god to the restless energy of this rugged
youth.
Even with seated figures he followed the same principle. Moses and the
Duke Giuliano are ready to rise to their feet if need be. In his
frescoes we again find the same motif,--Adam rising to his feet in
obedience to the Creator's summons, and Christ the Judge sweeping
asunder the multitudes.
In his love of action and his passion for the human form lay the
elements of his art most easily lending themselves to exaggeration.
That the master did indeed permit himself to be carried beyond due
limits in these matters is seen by comparing the grandeur of the
Sistine ceiling with the mannerisms of the Last Judgment. The interval
between was "the time of his best technical and spiritual
creativeness," when he produced the statues of the Sacristy of S.
Lorenzo.
It was characteristic of Michelangelo's impetuous nature to spend his
enthusiasm upon the early stages of his work, and leave it unfinished.
This unfinished effect of many of his marbles seems to bring us in
closer touch with his methods as a sculptor. Nor is a rough surface
here and there inharmonious with the rugged character of his
conceptions. Moreover, as a critic[1] has pointed out, the polished
and rough portions enhance each other, giving a variety in the light
and shadow which is pictorial in effect.
[Footnote 1: See notes on the Life of Michelangelo Buonarotti in the
Blashfield-Hopkins edition of Vasari.]
To a man of Michelangelo's austere temperament, intensely masculine in
his predilections, the beauty of womanhood was not fully revealed. His
sibyls can scarcely be counted as women; they belong to a world of
their own, neither human nor divine. It was only in his few Madonnas
that we can trace his feminine ideal, an ideal noble and dignified,
rather than beautiful. The Madonna of the bas-relief is proud rather
than tender, the Virgin of the Pietà is grand rather than lovely.
These were works of his youth. Later in life, when he had known the
blessing of a good woman's friendship, he developed a new ideal in the
gentle and delicate womanhood of the Virgin of the Last Judgment.
Michelangelo has been compared to two great masters of dissimilar
arts, Milton and Beethoven. There are striking points of similarity
in the men themselves, in stern uprightness of character, in scorn of
the low and trivial, in lofty idealism. The art of all three is too
far above the common level to be popular; it requires too much
thinking to attract the superficial. In poetry, in music, and in
sculpture, all three utter the profoundest truths of human experience,
expressed in grand and solemn harmonies.
II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE.
The original materials for the study of Michelangelo's life and work
are the two biographies by his contemporaries, Vasari and Condivi.
Vasari's was the first of these (1550), and like the other portions of
his "Lives of the Painters" contained many inaccuracies. It was to
correct these that Condivi published his little book a few years
later. This rival effort aroused Vasari's wrath, and after
Michelangelo's death he issued an enlarged edition of his own book,
unscrupulously incorporating all that was valuable in Condivi's work,
and adding thereto many reminiscences of the master's life. The fame
of Vasari's monumental work caused Condivi's little book to be
entirely forgotten for long years, and it has been one of the tasks of
modern scholarship to restore it to its true place. Even now, however,
there is no available form of Condivi's biography for American
readers, though Vasari's "Lives" in Mrs. Foster's translation is found
in most libraries. The latest edition of Vasari, published in 1897,
contains annotations by Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Blashfield, and A.A.
Hopkins, which correct all the statements in the light of recent
authorities.
Far more valuable even than the early biographies is the mass of
existing documents of the Buonarotti family, including contracts,
letters, poems, and memoranda, and containing data for a full and
exact biography of the master. Unfortunately, however, this great
storehouse of material has been for all these centuries a sealed
treasure, given up only little by little, to successive generations of
scholars. When Hermann Grimm wrote his celebrated "Life of Michael
Angelo" (in 1860), the only original material accessible to him was
the collection of letters in the British Museum. His volumes are still
read with interest and profit, though it is to be regretted that they
should be reprinted without any editorial comments to connect formerly
received opinions with later conclusions. John S. Harford's "Life of
Michael Angelo Buonarotti" was published at about the same time as
Grimm's work, that is, in 1857. It was in two volumes, and contained
translations of many of Michelangelo's poems, as well as material
about Savonarola, Vittoria Colonna, and Raphael. The work is found in
the older libraries, and is well worth studying, as the latter portion
is still valuable for all that refers to the architecture of St.
Peter's.
Signor Gotti's "Vita," in 1875, was the first to profit to any
considerable degree by documentary researches. The conclusions of this
book are best known to the English-reading public through Charles
Heath Wilson's "Life and Works of Michelangelo Buonarotti" (1876 and
1881), consisting of compilations from Gotti, to which are added
original investigations of the Sistine frescoes, which are very
valuable.
More privileged than any of his predecessors was John Addington
Symonds, who, by special favor of the Italian government, was allowed
to examine the Buonarotti collection in Florence, so long debarred to
others. His "Life of Michelangelo Buonarotti" is therefore unique in
being, as the sub-title announces, "based on studies in the archives
of the Buonarotti family at Florence." It was published in 1893 in two
large, finely illustrated volumes, and is taken as the latest
authoritative word on the subject, a word singularly independent of
others' conclusions, and influenced by an artistic and literary nature
of rare sensitiveness.
To those who wish briefer notices of Michelangelo's life and work than
any of these full biographies are recommended the chapters on
Michelangelo in Kugler's "Handbook of the Italian Schools," in Mrs.
Jameson's "Memoirs of the Italian Painters," in Frank Preston
Stearns's "Midsummer of Italian Art," in Mrs. Oliphant's "Makers of
Florence," and in Symonds's volume on "Fine Arts" in the series
"Renaissance in Italy."
To understand more fully the character of the man Michelangelo, the
student should read his sonnets. There is a complete collection
translated by J.A. Symonds, while both Wordsworth and Longfellow have
translated a few.
The life of Michelangelo has furnished material for two long poems by
American writers,--Longfellow's drama, and the poem by Stuart Sterne.
The former, which is annotated, is a well-balanced study of the great
artist's career and ideals.
III. HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE WORKS OF ART IN THIS COLLECTION.
_Portrait frontispiece._ An oil painting in The Hall of the Portraits
of Old Masters, Uffizi Gallery, Florence. The authorship of the
painting is not certainly known. Symonds says that "it may perhaps be
ascribed with some show of probability to Bugiardini." Bugiardini was a
friend of Michelangelo's youth and a fellow student in the gardens of
the Medici. That later in life he painted a portrait of his
distinguished friend we know from Vasari. Vasari tells us that the
portrait showed a peculiarity in the right eye, and this fact lends
probability to the identification of the Uffizi portrait with
Bugiardini's work.
1. _Madonna and Child_, an unfinished bas-relief medallion, made,
according to Vasari, during Michelangelo's residence in Florence in
1501-1505. It was made for Bartolommeo Pitti. It is now in the
National Museum (Bargello), Florence.
2. _David_, a statue made from a block of Carrara marble which had
been spoiled by an unskilled sculptor. After it had lain useless in
Florence for a century, a sculptor applied to the board of works of
the cathedral for permission to use it. The board consulted
Michelangelo and offered him the marble. He undertook to cut from it a
single figure which would exactly use the block. The contract to make
the statue of David was drawn up in 1501, and the statue was completed
in 1504. Forty men were employed four days to remove it from the
cathedral works to the Piazza della Signoria, where it was placed on
the platform of the palace (Palazzo Vecchio), remaining in the open
air more than three centuries. The weather was beginning to injure it,
and it was removed in 1873 to the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence,
where it now stands.
3. _Cupid._ Symonds gives the following account of the statue in the
"Life of Michelangelo," published in 1893: "Discovered some forty
years ago, hidden away in the cellars of the Gualfonda (Ruccellai)
Gardens, Florence, by Professor Milanesi and the famous Florentine
sculptor, Santarelli. On a cursory examination they both declared it
to be a genuine Michelangelo. The left arm was broken, the right hand
damaged, and the hair had never received the sculptor's final touches.
Santarelli restored the arm, and the Cupid passed by purchase into the
possession of the English nation." It is now in the Museum of South
Kensington.
4. _Moses_, a statue on the tomb commemorative of Julius II.,[2] in
the church of S. Pietro in Vincoli, Rome. At the beginning of
Michelangelo's connection with Julius II., he made plans for a
magnificent monumental tomb for this pope, to be ornamented with more
than forty statues and to be of great size (34-1/2 × 23 feet). The
fickleness of the Pope caused a continual series of disappointments in
the progress of the work, which was finally abandoned for the frescoes
of the Sistine Chapel. After the death of the Pope, his executors were
even less zealous for the completion of the tomb. A succession of
contracts were made and broken, each one reducing the size and
importance of the design. The artist was continually in demand for
other work. Finally, in 1542, to leave him free for the services of
the Pope, the completion of the tomb was put into other hands. The
statue of Moses, with those of Rachel and Leah, is all that
Michelangelo contributed to a work which had occupied his thoughts for
nearly forty years. The setting of the Moses is in every way
exceedingly unfavorable to a proper appreciation of the work.
[Footnote 2: The Pope, Julius II., is buried at St. Peter's.]
5. _Holy Family_, an oil painting belonging to the Florentine period
1501-1505, and painted for Angelo Doni. It is now in the Uffizi
Gallery, Florence.
6. _The Pietà_, a marble group executed by the order of the Cardinal
di San Dionigi according to a contract drawn up August 28, 1498. It
was placed in the old basilica of St. Peter's (Rome), in a chapel
dedicated to Our Lady of the Fever (Madonna della Febbre). In the
present church of St. Peter's it occupies a side chapel, to which it
gives its name, where it is placed so high that it is impossible to
see it well, and where its beauty is disfigured by the bronze cherubs
fastened above, holding a crown over the Virgin's head.
7. _Christ Triumphant_, a marble statue ordered by Bernardo Cencio (a
canon of St. Peter's), Mario Scappuci, and Metello Varj dei Porcari
for the church of S. Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, where it still stands.
The deed was executed in 1514, specifying that the statue should be of
marble, "life sized, naked, erect, with a cross in his arms." It
appears from Michelangelo's correspondence that the work was finished
by apprentices, first by Pietro Urbano, who did so badly that he was
discharged and replaced by Federigo Frizzi. It was completed in 1521,
when Michelangelo offered to make a new statue if it was not
satisfactory. Varj, however, declared that the sculptor had "already
made what could not be surpassed and was incomparable," so the statue
was placed in position.
8-12. _The Creation of Man, Jeremiah, Daniel, The Delphic Sibyl, the
Cumæan Sibyl_, frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Rome,
begun in 1508 at the order of the Pope Julius II. Michelangelo
undertook the work reluctantly, as sculpture was his chosen art. The
architect Bramante first made a scaffolding for the work, so clumsily
constructed that Michelangelo replaced it by one of his own invention.
Several Florentine painters were engaged as assistants, but, failing
to satisfy the painter, returned. Julius II. often visited the chapel
during the work, climbing to the scaffolding to see how it progressed.
Impatient to see it, he gave orders to have the ceiling uncovered when
but half finished. The first uncovering took place November 1, 1509.
The work was completed October, 1512.
13-14. _Lorenzo de' Medici_, _Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici_, marble
tombs first projected in 1520 or 1521, during the pontificate of Leo
X. (formerly Giovanni de' Medici). The order was renewed by Clement
VII., another Medici pope, in 1523. The work was carried on
intermittently a number of years during which occurred the revolution,
siege, and recapture of Florence. From 1530-1533 Michelangelo carried
them to the point of completion in which they are now seen: they were
never fully finished. The identity of the tombs was long a matter of
doubt. Though Vasari had called the helmeted figure Lorenzo and the
other Giuliano, there were critics, notably Grimm, who took the
opposite view. In 1875 the sarcophagus of the helmeted figure was
opened and evidence found proving it to be unquestionably the tomb of
Lorenzo, as Vasari had said. Both tombs remain as originally placed in
the new sacristy of the church of San Lorenzo, Florence.
15. _Central Figures of the Last Judgment_, a fresco painting on the
wall of the Sistine Chapel, executed by the order of the Pope Paul
III., who in 1535 appointed Michelangelo chief architect, sculptor,
and painter at the Vatican. The work occupied several years and was
completed in 1541.
IV. COLLATERAL READINGS FROM LITERATURE.
IN CONNECTION WITH THE SEVERAL WORKS HERE REPRESENTED.
The Madonna and Child and the Holy Family:--
The Latin hymn, Mater Speciosa, by Jacobus de Benedictis,
translated by Dr. Neale.
David:--
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley. History of the Jewish Church, Part
II. Lectures XXII.-XXV.: David.
Robert Browning. Poem, Saul.
Psalm Twenty-three.
Cupid:--
Richard Crashaw. Poem, Cupid's Cryer; out of the Greek.
Edmund Gosse. Poem, Cupido Crucifixus.
Moses:--
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley. History of the Jewish Church, Part
I, Lectures V.-VIII.: Moses.
Mrs. A.D.T. Whitney. The Open Mystery: A Reading of the
Mosaic Story, Part IV.
The Song of Moses: Deuteronomy, chapter xxxii.
The Prayer of Moses: Psalm Ninety.
Cecil Frances Alexander. Poem, The Burial of Moses.
Sonnet on the statue of Moses by Giovanni Battista Felice
Zappi, translated by J.A. Symonds (in Life of Michelangelo
Buonarotti).
The Pietà:--
Latin hymn, Stabat Mater, by Jacobus de Benedictis,
translated by Lord Lindsay, by General Dix or by Dr. Coles.
Christ Triumphant:--
Henryk Sienkiewicz. Quo Vadis, chapter lxix.
Frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, general impressions:--
Symonds. Renaissance in Italy, volume on the Fine Arts,
chapter viii.: Life of Michael Angelo.
Taine. Italy, book iii., chapter ix.: Michael Angelo.
Andersen. The Improvisatore, chapter xii.: Allegri's
Miserere, in the Sistine Chapel.
The Creation of Man:--
Milton. Paradise Lost, book VIII., lines 500-528.
Jeremiah:--
Lucy Larcom. Poem, The Weeping Prophet.
Daniel:--
Sir Edwin Arnold. Poem, The Feast of Belshazzar.
The Delphic Sibyl:--
Lord Houghton. Delphi, a poem included in Longfellow's
collection of Poems of Places, volume on Greece.
The Cumæan Sibyl:--
Virgil. Æneid, sixth book, translated by C.P. Cranch or by
John Conington.
The Medicean Tombs, general impressions:--
Symonds. The Renaissance in Italy, volume on the Fine Arts,
chapter viii.: Life of Michael Angelo.
Taine. Italy, book iii., chapter v.: The Florentine School
of Art.
Mrs. Oliphant. The Makers of Florence, chapter xv.: Michael
Angelo.
Rogers. Italy: poem on Florence.
Lorenzo de' Medici:--
Milton. Il Penseroso.
Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici:--
Charles Algernon Swinburne. Poem, In San Lorenzo.
The Last Judgment:--
The Latin hymn, Dies Irae, by Thomas de Celano, translated
by General John E. Dix.
Alexander Dumas. Les Trois Maitres: Description of Last
Judgment, translated by Esther Singleton in the compilation
Great Pictures described by Great Writers.
The portrait of Michelangelo:--
C.P. Cranch. Michael Angelo Buonarotti, a poem read at a
celebration of the 400th anniversary of his birth, included
in Longfellow's collection of Poems of Places, volume on
Italy.
V. OUTLINE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN MICHELANGELO'S LIFE.
(_Based on Symonds' Life of Michelangelo Buonarotti, to which the
accompanying notes on pages refer._)
1475. Born at Caprese, March 6 (p. 4).
1488. Apprenticed to Domenico and David Ghirlandajo, April 1 (p. 12).
1489-1492. Under the patronage of Lorenzo the Magnificent, in the Casa
Medici (p. 23).
1494, 1495. In Bologna, work on the tomb of St. Dominick (pp. 47, 48).
1495. Return to Florence, the Sleeping Cupid (pp. 50-52).
1496-1498. In Rome:--
The Bacchus (p. 58).
The South Kensington Cupid (p. 62).
The Pietà (p. 69).
1500. A second visit to Rome (p. 80).
1501-1505. In Florence (p. 87).
1504. Statue of David (p. 96) taken from workshop, May 14;
arrived at Piazza Signoria, May 18;
set in place, June 8.
Commissioned in August to prepare cartoons for decoration of Hall in
Palazzo Vecchio, on wall opposite to that assigned to Leonardo
da Vinci (p. 119).
1505. Arrival in Rome to work under patronage of the Pope
Julius II. (p. 126).
Preparations begun for work on tomb of Julius and trip to Carrara to
select marbles (p. 129).
1506. His angry flight from Rome (p. 155).
Visit in Florence and completion of competitive cartoon (Battle of Pisa)
for Palazzo Vecchio (p. 161).
Reconciliation with the Pope at Bologna, November (p. 186).
1506-1508. Residence in Bologna, and statue of Julius II.
(pp. 187 and 195).
1508. Return to Florence, March (p. 197).
Thence to Rome by order of Julius II. (p. 198).
Frescoes of the Sistine Chapel begun (p. 206).
1509. First uncovering of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, showing frescoes
in the central space (pp. 209, 211).
1512. Sistine frescoes completed, October (p. 217).
1513. Death of Michelangelo's patron, Julius II., Feb. 21.
New contract for tomb, dated May 6 (p. 302).
1514. Contract for life size marble statue of Christ. Date of
deed, June 14 (p. 305).
1516. Reduced plan for tomb of Julius II. (p. 320).
Visit to Carrara to quarry marble.
Suspension of work on tomb to make façade of church of S. Lorenzo
(Florence) for Pope Leo X. (p. 323).
1518. Contract for façade of S. Lorenzo, Jan. 19 (p. 328).
1518, 1519. To and from Florence and Carrara for marble
(pp. 331, 339, 341, 342).
1520. Façade of S. Lorenzo abandoned (p. 349).
1521. Work begun on tombs in sacristy of S. Lorenzo (p. 357).
Statue of Christ finished (pp. 306, 359).
Death of Michelangelo's patron, Leo X., Dec. 1.
1523. Fresh beginning of project of the Medicean tombs in sacristy of
S. Lorenzo (p. 372).
1524. Vasari's apprenticeship with Michelangelo (p. 389).
1525. Work in Florence on Medicean tombs (p. 391).
1526. Work begun on Laurentian Library (p. 397).
1527, 1528. Uneventful years in Florence (p. 404).
1529. His services on the fortifications of S. Miniato, to defend
Florence against the Medici (pp. 409, 412).
Flight from Florence to Venice, Sept. 21 (p. 416).
1530. Capitulation of Florence (p. 435).
Michelangelo in hiding (p. 437).
Resumption of work on Medicean tombs (p. 438).
1530-1533. Work on Medicean tombs (p. 447).
1532. New contract for tomb of Julius II. (p. 455).
1534. Death of Clement VII.
1535. Appointed chief architect, sculptor, and painter at the Vatican by
Pope Paul III., Sept. 1 (vol. ii. p. 40).
1536-1537. Work on the Last Judgment (vol. ii. p. 43).
1538-1547. Friendship with Vittoria Colonna (vol. ii. pp. 93, 117, 125).
1541. Last Judgment shown to the public, Christmas day (vol. ii. p. 58).
1542. Work assigned by Paul III. for frescoes in the Paulien Chapel
(vol. ii. p. 69).
Michelangelo's last contract for tomb of Julius II. (vol. ii.
pp. 40, 69, 73).
1544. Illness (vol. ii. pp. 183, 187).
1546. Michelangelo succeeds Antonio da Gallo as architect-in-chief at
St. Peter's (vol. ii. p. 213).
1552. Invitation of Duke Cosimo de' Medici to return to Florence
declined (vol. ii. pp. 289-291).
1556. Excursion to Spoleto (vol. ii. p. 303).
1557. Model for cupola of St. Peter's (vol. ii. p. 232).
1564. Death in Rome, Feb. 17 (vol. ii. p. 320).
VI. SOME OF MICHELANGELO'S FAMOUS ITALIAN CONTEMPORARIES.
RULERS.
_Florentine Dukes_:--
Lorenzo de' Medici, 1469-1492.
Piero de' Medici succeeded Lorenzo 1492, expelled from Florence 1493.
Alessandro de' Medici, made first hereditary duke of Florence 1531,
assassinated 1537.
Cosimo de' Medici succeeded Alessandro, 1537-1574.
_Popes_:--
Sixtus IV., 1471-1484.
Innocent VIII., 1484-1492.
Alexander VI., 1492-1503.
Pius III., 1503-1503.
Julius II., 1503-1513.
Leo X., 1513-1522.
Hadrian VI., 1522-1523.
Clement VII., 1523-1534.
Paul III., 1534-1550.
Marcellus II., 1550-1555.
Paul IV., 1555-1555.
Pius IV., 1555-1559.
Pius V., 1559-1566.
MEN OF LETTERS.
Boiardo, 1434-1494, poet (Orlando Innamorato).
Ariosto, 1474-1533, poet (Orlando Furioso).
Aretino (Venetian) 1492-1557, poet.
Francesco Berni, 1496-1535, burlesque poet.
Bandello, 1480-1562, _novelliero_.
Sannazaro, 1458-1530, poet (Arcadia).
Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527, author of The Prince.
Gucciardini, 1483-1540, historian.
Tasso, 1544-1595, poet (Gerusalemme Liberata).
_Group centring about Lorenzo the Magnificent in Florence._
Cristoforo Landino, 1424-1504, tutor of Lorenzo, and professor of Latin
Literature.
Bartolommeo Scala, 1430-1497, chancellor of Florence.
Luigi Pulci, 1431-1487, writer of burlesque epic Il Morgante Maggiore,
and intimate friend of Lorenzo and Poliziano.
Marsilio Ficino, 1433-1499, president of Academy in 1463, translator of
Plato and Plotinus.
Angelo Poliziano, 1454-1494, tutor of Lorenzo's children, and professor
of Greek and Latin Literature in University of Florence.
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, 1463-1494, published 900 theses at Rome in
defence of Platonic mysticism.
_Group in Rome_:--
Pietro Bembo, 1470-1547, made cardinal in 1539, master of Latin style
and also writer in Italian.
Jacopo Sadoleto, 1477-1547, made cardinal in 1536, writer of Latin verses,
moral treatises, and commentary on Romans.
Egidio Canisio, 1470-1532, made cardinal in 1457, Latin orator and writer
on philosophy, history, and theology.
Paolo Giovio, 1483-1552, bishop of Nocera 1528, historian and biographer.
Baldassare Castiglione, 1478-1529, diplomatist and scholar.
Gian Francesco Pico della Mirandola, 1470-1533, author of life of
Savonarola.
Jerome Aleander, 1480-1542, made cardinal in 1536, librarian at Vatican.
Marcus Musurus, 1470-1517, lecturer in Gymnasium Caballini Montis.
Joannes Lascaris, 1445-1535, superintendent of Greek press established in
Rome by Leo X.
Riario, Giulio de' Medici, Bibbiena, Petrucci, Farnese, Alidosi, Gonzaga,
cardinals and patrons of literature.
PAINTERS.
Ghirlandajo, 1449-1495? Florentine
Verrocchio, 1435-1488 "
Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519 "
Bartolommeo, 1475-1517 "
Francesco Granacci, 1477-1543 (friend of Michelangelo) "
Giuliano Bugiardini, 1475-1554 (friend of Michelangelo) "
Raphael, 1483-1520 "
Andrea del Sarto, 1486-1531 "
Sebastiano del Piombo, 1485-1547 "
Giorgio Vasari, 1512-1574 "
Giovanni Bellini, 1428-1516 Venetian
Giorgione, 1477-1510 "
Titian, 1477-1576 "
Tintoretto, 1518-1594 "
Paolo Veronese, 1528-1588 "
Perugino, 1446-1523 Umbrian
Bazzi, 1477-1549 Sienese
Baldassare Peruzzi, 1481-1536 (also architect) "
Domenico Beccafumi, 1486-1551 "
Mantegna, 1431-1506 Mantuan
Francia, 1450-1518 Bolognese
Correggio, 1494-1534 Emilian
MISCELLANEOUS.
Savonarola, 1452-1498, prior of monastery of S. Marco, Florence,
preacher, reformer, martyr.
Marc' Antonio, 1487-1539, engraver.
Bramante, 1444-1514, architect of St. Peter's.
Antonio da San Gallo, 1485-1546, architect of St. Peter's.
Christopher Columbus, 1436 or 1446-1506, discoverer.
Aldo Manuzio (Teobaldo Mannucci), 1450-1515, printer, established
press at Venice 1490.
Vittoria Colonna, 1490-1547, poet.
I
THE MADONNA AND CHILD
About two thousand years ago a babe was born in the little
Judæan village of Bethlehem whose life was to change all history. His
name was Jesus, and every Christian country now takes his birth as a
standard from which to reckon time. When we speak of the year 1900, we
are counting the number of years that have passed since that event.[3]
To make this clear we sometimes add the initials A.D., standing for
the Latin words, Anno Domini, meaning in the year of our Lord. To go
still farther back we speak of an event as so many years B.C. or
Before Christ.
[Footnote 3: To be perfectly exact we must always add four years to a
date to get the full length of time passed since the birth of Christ,
as a mistake has been made in the calculation.]
The infant Jesus came to his mother Mary as a peculiar treasure.
Before his birth she had had a vision of an angel telling her that her
son was to reign over a great kingdom. She felt that there was a great
and solemn mystery in his life.
At the time he was born, Bethlehem happened to be crowded with people
who had come there to pay their taxes. When Mary and her husband
Joseph went to the inn, there was no room for them, and the baby was
laid in a manger used to feed cattle. This was a humble cradle for
one destined to be a king; but the mother did not think too much of
outward things. Her confidence in her son's greatness was not to be
shaken by trifles like this.
The new-born babe was soon sought out. First came some shepherds
asking to see him, because, while watching their sheep at night, they
had had a vision of angels telling them that a Saviour was born in
Bethlehem. Still stranger visitors were some wise men from the East,
who said they had seen a star which signified to them the birth of a
king. They brought the babe royal gifts of gold and frankincense and
myrrh, and returned on their way well pleased with the success of
their journey.
When the babe was about a month old he was carried up to the great
city of Jerusalem, where, according to the religious custom of the
Jews, he was to be offered or presented to the Lord, in the temple.
Here a saintly old man named Simeon took him in his arms, with some
strange words of prophecy of the salvation which this child was to
bring to the world.
All these things made a deep impression upon Mary, and she was a proud
and devoted mother. Day by day she watched her child grow "strong in
spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him." It is
said that
"All mothers worship little feet,
And kiss the very ground they've trod,"
and this mother had special cause for child worship.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD. _National Museum, Florence._]
The Italians always refer to the mother of Jesus as the Madonna,
which is the old Italian way of addressing a lady. This representation
of the Madonna and Child makes us understand better what the two were
to each other. The confiding way in which the boy leans against his
mother's knee shows the love between them. The mother looks like a
queen; on her well-poised head she wears a headdress something like a
crown. As the mother of a prince she bears her honors proudly.
On her lap is the book from which she has been reading. The child
seems dreaming of the wonderful words he has heard, as he rests his
cheek on his little hand, his elbow bent across the open page. A
thoughtful mood is upon them both, and there is something wistful in
the boy's attitude. The message they have read must indeed be a solemn
one. Perhaps it is something which recalls to the mother the promise
of the angel in foretelling the birth of Jesus. She thinks of the
great honors that are to be his, and also of the sacrifices by which
they must be won. The book may be open at the words of one of those
old Hebrew prophets who longed for the coming of the Redeemer. There
is a verse in the prophecy of Isaiah, which speaks of a child upon
whose shoulders the government shall rest.[4] The writer tells some of
the many names by which he shall be called, and we may imagine this
mother and child going over together these strange titles: "Wonderful,
Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace."
[Footnote 4: Isaiah, chapter ix. verse 6.]
Our illustration is from a bas-relief by Michelangelo, and as we
examine it closely we discover that the sculptor's work was left
unfinished. The rough marks of the chisel are still seen on the
surface of the marble. A child's figure in the background is quite
indistinct. Probably it was intended for the boy St. John the Baptist,
the cousin of Jesus. The child Jesus himself is by no means completed;
his right arm is only faintly indicated.
As we shall learn from other examples of sculpture in this book,[5]
Michelangelo often neglected to carry his work to completion. He was
so possessed with his ideas that he could not work fast enough in
sketching them on the marble, but after this, it did not matter so
much to him about the finishing. He had done enough to show his
meaning.
[Footnote 5: Note particularly the Cupid on page 15, and the tomb of
Giuliano de' Medici on page 81.]
There are reasons for liking such work all the better for being
unfinished. Some of the most delightful stories ever written, like
those of Hawthorne, leave something at the end still unexplained. The
reader's imagination is then free to go on forever exploring the
mystery, and inventing new situations. So in this bas-relief, the
great sculptor does not work out the details, but allows us to
exercise our own fancy upon them. He sketches his thought in a few
noble lines, and each may round out for himself the completed ideal.
II
DAVID
Long ago in the country of Palestine lived a lad named David, who kept
his father's sheep. His free life out of doors made him strong and
manly beyond his years. The Israelites were at this time at war with
the Philistines, and David's quick wit and indomitable courage fitted
him to play an important part in the issue of the war.
The Philistine army contained a giant named Goliath, described as "six
cubits and a span" in height. That is over ten feet; but perhaps his
terrible appearance, in all his armor, made him taller than he really
was.
One day this giant came out from his army and made a proposal to the
Israelites:[6] "Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your
servants: but if I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be
our servants, and serve us." Every day, morning and evening for forty
days, the Philistine stood forth and repeated his challenge, yet in
vain. Saul, the king, and all Israel, were "dismayed and greatly
afraid."
[Footnote 6: 1 Samuel, chapter xvii. verses 8, 9.]
Now it happened that David's three elder brothers were in the
Israelite army, and one day their father sent him to them with a
present of some provisions. While the lad was talking with his
brothers, Goliath came out with his usual call of defiance. David
listened with wonder and indignation. "Who is this Philistine?" he
asked scornfully, "that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
The brothers were angry at what they thought foolish bravado on the
part of David; but there were others who reported his words to Saul,
who forthwith sent for the lad. Then David amazed the king by boldly
offering to go and fight with the Philistine.
"And Saul said to David, 'Thou art not able to go against this
Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man
of war from his youth.' And David said unto Saul, 'Thy servant kept
his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb
out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and
delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught
him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both
the lion and the bear.... The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of
the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of
the hand of this Philistine.' And Saul said unto David, 'Go, and the
Lord be with thee.'
[Illustration: DAVID. _Academy of Fine Arts, Florence._]
"And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass
upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded
his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not
proved it. And David said unto Saul, 'I cannot go with these; for I
have not proved them.' And David put them off him. And he took his
staff in his hand and chose him five smooth stones out of the
brook,... and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the
Philistine....
"And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained
him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance....
And the Philistine said to David, 'Come to me, and I will give thy
flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.' Then
said David to the Philistine, 'Thou comest to me with a sword, and
with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the
Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite
thee, and take thine head from thee.' ...
"And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew
nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet
the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a
stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that
the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the
earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a
stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword
in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the
Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath
thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the
Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled."[7]
[Footnote 7: 1 Samuel, chapter xvii. verses 33-51.]
This heroic adventure of David is the subject of Michelangelo's
statue. The shepherd, having thrown off the king's armor, advances
naked and unhampered, carrying only the sling flung across his back.
The large muscular hand hanging by his side holds the piece of wood on
which the sling is hung. It is the hand that wrenched the lamb from
the lion's mouth and then seized the king of beasts himself by the
beard. The left hand, poised on the shoulder, holds the centre of the
sling where it bulges with the pebble. The youth scans the enemy
keenly, marking the spot at which to aim. In another moment the pebble
will be speeding on its way. His air of confidence makes us sure of
the victory. Determination like this must win the day.
Critics of sculpture tells us that the statue of David must have been
studied from a model of the age which Michelangelo imagined as that of
the shepherd lad at this time. The figure is that of a growing youth,
and although it is therefore not so beautiful as a type of perfectly
developed manhood, it has a rugged strength which makes it one of the
sculptor's most interesting works.
III
CUPID
In the mythology of ancient Greece there is no more popular figure
than the little god of love, Eros, more commonly known by the Latin
name Cupid. He was supposed to be the son of Venus, the goddess of
love and beauty, whom he attended. He was never without his bow and
quiver of arrows. Whoever was hit by one of his magic darts
straightway fell in love. The wound was at once a pain and a delight.
Some traditions say that he shot blindfolded,--his aim seemed often so
at random. Sometimes the one whom he wounded was apparently least
susceptible to love. Indeed, Cupid had the reputation of being rather
a mischievous fellow, fond of pranks.
One of these was at the expense of Apollo, the great sun god. Apollo
was himself a mighty archer, and had slain with his arrows the python
of Delphi. Proud of his victory, he mocked at the little god of love,
advising him to leave his arrows for the warlike, and content himself
with the torch of love. Cupid, vexed at the taunt, replied
threateningly, "Thine arrows may strike all things else, Apollo, but
mine shall strike thee." So saying he drew from his quiver two arrows,
one of gold, to excite love, and one of lead, to repel it. With the
golden one he shot Apollo through the heart, with the leaden he shot
the nymph Daphne. So Apollo became nearly mad with love for Daphne,
but the maid fled from him with horror. He pursued her, and when he
was close upon her, she turned into a laurel-tree.
Cupid continued to work havoc with his arrows. Even his mother Venus
could not escape their power. One day, when frolicking with her boy,
she was wounded by one of the darts, and before the wound healed she
saw and loved Adonis. When that youth was killed in a struggle with a
wild boar, she was inconsolable.
Another romantic tragedy for which Cupid was responsible was the love
between Hero and Leander. These two young people lived in towns on
opposite sides of the Hellespont. Leander was one day worshipping in
the temple of Venus, in Hero's town, Sestos, when he saw Hero, and was
at that moment shot by Cupid's arrow. His love was returned, and every
night he swam across the channel to see his lady love, until one night
a tempest arose, and he was drowned. The waves bore his body to the
shore, where Hero found him, and in her despair threw herself into the
sea and was also drowned.
[Illustration: CUPID. _South Kensington Museum, London._]
Such legends as these were dear to the hearts of the Greeks. Their
poets and artists were very fond of the subject of Cupid. Now
Michelangelo's early artistic training was under the influence of the
Greek culture. He was an inmate of the household of Lorenzo de'
Medici, who was an ardent lover of all that was beautiful in Greek
art and literature. At the table of the prince the youth must often
have heard the old Greek myths related, and in the gardens he saw
splendid Greek marbles. It was natural, then, that among his early
works in sculpture he should choose the subject of Cupid. His idea
was, however, his own, and was not at all such as a Greek would have
imagined. Classic art always represented the god of love as a merry
little winged boy, while in this statue he is seen as a well-grown
youth. His face is strong and masterful, instead of innocently gay.
He has dropped on one knee to take an arrow from the ground. In his
raised left hand he holds the bow, of which we see only a portion. His
left leg is bent in position to rise again. Like David, he has an
abundance of bushy hair crowning his handsome head; his straight brows
and set mouth show the same determination of character. He stands for
love which is determined to win, for love which conquers every
obstacle, for love which is unerring in aim. It is a much nobler
conception than the mere passing fancy of which the old myth speaks.
Michelangelo was one who believed that
"Love betters what is best,
Even here below, but more in heaven above."[8]
So he put into a pagan fancy a new and higher meaning.
[Footnote 8: one of Michelangelo's sonnets translated by Wordsworth.]
To understand fully the qualities of this work of art, one ought to
see it from many points of view, and study the lines. The long curve
of the right arm follows the curve of the right leg from hip to knee.
The bend of the left arm repeats the line made by the bend of the left
leg. The two extended arms together form a long line arching like the
curve of a bow.
From every standpoint all the lines are beautiful and harmonious. This
was the secret the Greeks had taught the young Italian sculptor. In
other respects he was entirely original. Cupid, like David, is in an
attitude of action. In another moment he will move. This was quite
different from the Greek sculpture, which always gives an impression
of repose.
NOTE.--There is a difference of opinion among
critics as to the subject of the statue at South Kensington.
Heath Wilson considered it an Apollo. The writer has
followed Symonds in calling it Cupid.
The size of the statue may be calculated from the foot rule
which lies across the pedestal in the picture.
IV
MOSES
In Michelangelo's statue of Moses the great Hebrew leader is
represented at the height of his career. He was a prophet, a poet, a
military commander, and a statesman. The story of his life will show
how all these qualities could be combined in one person.
At the time of his birth his people were in slavery to the Egyptians,
who cruelly oppressed them. Their numbers were increasing so rapidly
that it was feared they would soon outnumber their masters. So the
command went forth to drown every boy baby. Now the mother of Moses
had no mind to lose her boy, and "when she could not longer hide him,
she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and
with pitch, and she put the child therein and laid it in the flags by
the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would
be done to him."[9]
[Footnote 9: Exodus, chapter ii. verses 3, 4, Revised Version.]
Then a strange thing happened. The princess came to the river with her
maids for a bath, and finding the babe, was touched by his cries. The
sister came up as if by chance, and asked if she should seek a Hebrew
nurse for the child, and when the princess said Yes, she went
straight for her mother.
So Moses was adopted by an Egyptian princess, yet he was nurtured in
infancy by his own mother. This explains why, with all the Egyptian
learning acquired at court, he had still the religious training of a
Jew, and when he grew to manhood he was full of sympathy for the
wrongs of his people. One day he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, and
in his wrath he slew the Egyptian on the spot. News of the deed came
to Pharaoh the king, and Moses fled into a place called Midian. Here
for forty years he lived a quiet pastoral life as a shepherd for
Jethro, whose daughter he had married.
Then came the divine call. He was alone with his sheep on the
mountain-side, when he heard a voice saying, "Come now and I will send
thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children
of Israel out of Egypt,... and I will bring you up out of the
affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites ... unto a land
flowing with milk and honey."[10] Thus Moses became the leader of his
people in their exodus, or departure from Egypt.
[Footnote 10: Exodus, chapter iii verses 10 and 17.]
[Illustration: MOSES. _Church of S. Pietro in Vincoli, Rome._]