THE RISEN CHRIST OF THE MINERVA
Julius II. died on February 21, 1513. He will ever be remembered as the
man who compelled Michael Angelo to paint the Sistine vault. He was the
best friend Michael Angelo ever had, notwithstanding their bickerings, and
he understood him as no one ever did afterwards; but he bequeathed to him
the Tragedy of the Tomb. In 1514 Michael Angelo signed the agreement for a
new commission:--
"Deed with Michael Angelo for the figure in marble(119) of a Risen Christ
for the Church of the Minerva, in Rome. The 14 day of June, 1514. Let it
be known and manifest to whoever reads this scrip, how Messere Bernardo
Cencio, Canon of St. Peter's, and Messeri Mario Scappucci and Metello
Vari, have ordered Michael Angelo di Lodovico Simoni, Sculptor, to carve a
figure in marble of Christ as large as life, nude, standing, bearing a
cross, in whatever attitude the said Michael Angelo thinks good, for the
price of two hundred gold ducats of the Camera, to be paid in this manner,
that is to say: At the present time one hundred and fifty gold ducats of
the Camera, and the remainder, that is fifty similar ducats, the said
Messeri Mario and Metello delli Vari promise to pay when the work is
finished. As soon as the said Michael Angelo begins to work on the said
figure, which he promises to place in the Minerva in whatever position the
before-mentioned shall approve; and at his own expense to make a niche
where the said figure is to be placed; and every other adornment that
should be needful, it is understood that the before-mentioned Messer
Bernardo and Messer Mario shall supply at their own expense. This figure
the said Michael Angelo promises to do by the end of the next four years,
more or less as appears to him good, engaging, however, that he will not
exceed four years."
[Image #32]
ONE OF THE ANCESTORS OF CHRIST, OVER THE WINDOW INSCRIBED "JESSE"
SISTINE CHAPEL, ROME
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari, Florence_)
Then follow their affirmations in due form. Metello Vari dei Porcari, a
Roman of an old family, appears to have been the real patron to whom
Michael Angelo was responsible. The first block of marble was found to be
faulty, so another one had to be carved. The work was not completed until
1521. It is now in the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva at Rome.
In 1515 Michael Angelo was still at work on the Tomb, but apprehensive of
interruption from Pope Leo.
_To_ BUONARROTO DI LODOVICO SIMONI, _in Florence_.
"BUONARROTO,--I have written the letter to Filipo Strozzi; see if
you like it and give it to him. If it is not well, I know he will
hold me excused, for it is not my profession; enough if it serves
its purpose. I wish you to go to the Spedalingo(120) of Santa
Maria Nuova, and tell him to pay to me here one thousand and four
hundred ducats of what he has of mine, because I must make a great
effort this summer to finish my work quickly, because I expect
soon to have to enter the Pope's service. And for this I have
bought perhaps twenty thousands of bronze for casting certain
figures. I must have money; so when you see this arrange with the
Spedalingo to have it paid over to me; and if you are able to
arrange with Pier Francesco Borgerini, who is there, that he
should have it paid to me by his people here, I should be glad,
for Pier Francesco is my friend and will serve me well; and do not
talk about it for I wish it to be paid to me here secretly; and
for what remains at Santa Maria Nuova, accept security from the
Spedalingo, on account. I wait for the money. No more.
"On the 16th day of June, 1515.
"MICHAEL ANGELO, in Rome."(121)
So now, besides the Moses and the Captives in marble, the panels in relief
were, perhaps, ready for casting. The lower portions of the architectural
base, now in San Pietro in Vincula, were also probably finished. Half the
period spent by Michael Angelo in quarrying and road-making for Pope Leo
would have sufficed for the completion of the Tomb, which would then have
been a monument of Michael Angelo's power as a sculptor, fit to rank with
the monument of his power as a painter in the Sistine Chapel: a monument
containing four figures, equal in execution and size to the Moses, twelve
figures like the Slaves, altogether some forty statues and numerous bronze
bas-reliefs besides. It is a great misfortune that we have no bronze
bas-reliefs by Michael Angelo, for all his works prove that his genius
would have been well expressed in this art.
[Image #33]
ONE OF THE ANCESTORS OF CHRIST, OVER THE WINDOW INSCRIBED "IORAM"
(_Reproduced by permission from a photograph by Sig. D. Anderson, Rome_)
The early years of the Pontificate of Leo X. were wasted over the project
for the facade of San Lorenzo. Michael Angelo was continually at Carrara.
In a letter, dated May 8, 1517, to Domenico Buoninsegna, Michael Angelo
writes with enthusiasm about his new scheme, and undertakes to carry it
out for 35,000 golden ducats in six years. Buoninsegna replied that the
Cardinal expressed the highest satisfaction at "the great heart he had for
conducting the work of the facade." The friendly relations of Michael
Angelo with the natives of Carrara continued until the Pope obliged him to
leave their quarries and open up those of Pietra Santa, in Tuscan
territory, by which act Michael Angelo lost much time. He had positively
to make roads down the mountains and over the marshes before he could get
a single block to the river. The Marquis of Carrara became his enemy, and
the contracts with the people of Carrara caused him much annoyance and
great loss. The orders from Rome were peremptory and had to be
obeyed.(122) Ten years of the best of Michael Angelo's working life were
wasted; the numberless delays of this period, and the delays over the Tomb
of Julius, positively seem to have changed the character of the artist
from a man of action to a man of thought. Possibly advancing age had
something to do with it; but the fact remains that the man who executed
the bronze statue of Julius in two years, and painted the vault of the
Sistine in less than three years, took seven years to finish the Last
Judgment, which covers a surface about one-third the extent of the vault,
and also is in a much more favourable position for painting.
There is a document shown in the rooms of the State Archives at the Uffizi
that belongs to this period; it is a memorial addressed by the Florentine
Academy to Pope Leo X., asking him to authorise the translation of the
bones of Dante from Ravenna, where they still rest under "the little
cupola, more neat than solemn," to Florence. It is dated October 20, 1518.
All but one of the signatures appended are written in Latin; that one is
as follows:--"I, Michael Angelo, the sculptor, pray the like of your
Holiness, offering my services to the divine poet for the erection of a
befitting sepulchre to him in some honour-place in this city." Michael
Angelo's devotion to Dante was well known to his contemporaries; he is
known to have filled a book with drawings to illustrate the "Divina Com
media"; this volume perished at sea, whilst in the possession of the
sculptor Antonio Montanti, who was shipwrecked on a journey from Leghorn
to Rome.
On April 17, 1517, Michael Angelo bought some ground in the Via Mozza, now
Via San Zanobi, Florence, from the Chapter of Santa Maria del Fiore, to
build a workshop for finishing his marbles; the purchase was completed on
November 24, 1518. This studio remained in his possession until his death.
He describes it to Lionardo di Compago, the saddle-maker, as an excellent
workshop, where twenty statues can be set up together.
Meanwhile he went on working at Pietra Santa for the facade. In August
1518, he writes:----
[Image #34]
ONE OF THE ANCESTORS OF CHRIST, OVER THE WINDOW INSCRIBED "ASA"
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari, Florence_)
"The place of quarrying is very rugged, and the workmen are very
ignorant of this sort of work. So for some months I must be very
patient until the mountains are tamed and the men are mastered.
Then we shall get on more quickly. Enough, what I have promised
that will I do by some means, and I will make the most beautiful
thing that has ever been done in Italy if God helps me."
The melancholy end of this scheme is told in a Ricordo in the Archivio
Buonarroti, March 10, 1520.
"Now Pope Leo, perhaps, to carry out more quickly the
above-mentioned facade of San Lorenzo than according to the
agreement he made with me, and I consenting, sets me free, and for
all the above-said money that I have received, are counted the
road that I have made to Pietra Santa, and the marbles that were
quarried there and rough-hewn as may be seen to-day; and he
declares himself content and satisfied with me, as is said, about
all the money received for the said facade of San Lorenzo, and
every other work that I have had to do for him until this tenth
day of March, 1519; and so he leaves me my freedom, and not
obliged to render account to any one for anything that I have had
to do for him or with others for him."(123)
We have a series of most interesting letters from Sebastiano del Piombo,
Michael Angelo's favourite gossip in Rome; most of them are dated from
1520 to 1533, and give Michael Angelo at Carrara news of Sebastiano and
the art world of Rome, They often relate to designs that Sebastiano wished
to get from Michael Angelo in order that he might be entrusted with
commissions from the Pope that would otherwise be given to the scholars of
Raphael. In one, dated October 27, 1520, he says:--
"For I know how much the Pope values you, and when he speaks of
you it is as if he were speaking of his own brother, almost with
tears in his eyes; for he has told me that you were brought up
together, and shows that he knows and loves you. But you frighten
everybody, even Popes!"(124)
Michael Angelo seems to have taken exception to the remark, for Sebastiano
in his next letter but one says:--
"As to what you reply to me about your terribleness, I for my part
do not find you terrible; and if I have not written to you about
this, do not wonder, for you do not appear to me terrible except
only in art--that is to say, the greatest master that has ever
been; so it seems to me if I am in error I am to blame. I have no
more to say. Christ keep you safe. 9th day of November, 1520.
Remember me to friend Leonardo and to Master Pier Francesco.
"Your most faithful gossip,
"BASTIANO, Painter, in Rome.
"The Lord Michael Angelo de Bonarotis, the most worthy sculptor,
Florence."(125)
After Michael Angelo had been dismissed from the work of the facade of San
Lorenzo he appears to have remained quietly at Florence, possibly engaged
upon the marbles for the Tomb of Julius II. About the same time, at the
instigation of the Cardinal de' Medici, he began to design the new
sacristy and the tombs at San Lorenzo.
[Image #50]
THE PROPHET JONAH
SISTINE CHAPEL, ROME
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari, Florence_)
In the Ricordi, which run from April 9 to August 19, 1521, he says that on
April 9 he received two hundred ducats from the Cardinal de' Medici to go
to Carrara and lodge there, to quarry marbles for the tombs which are to
be placed in the new sacristy at San Lorenzo. "And there I stayed about
twenty days and made out drawings to scale, and measured models in clay
for the said tombs." On August 16 the contractors for the blocks, all of
which were excavated from the old Roman quarry of Polvaccio, came to
Florence, and were paid on account.
The statue of the "Risen Christ" was forwarded to Rome during the summer.
The smaller detached, or more easily broken portions, were left in the
rough to prevent accidents during the journey, and Pietro Urbino went to
Rome with orders to complete the work there. Sebastiano del Piombo, like
the good friend he was, kept Michael Angelo informed of the progress of
the young scamp of a pupil, from whom his master had extracted a promise
that he would avoid the company of dissolute Florentines in Rome more than
he had previously done. On November 9, 1520, Sebastiano writes that his
gossip, Giovanni da Reggio, "goes about saying that you have not done the
figure yourself, but that it is the work of Pietro Urbino. Be sure that it
may be seen to be from your hand, so that poltroons and babblers may
burst." This was written whilst the work was still at Florence. On
September 6, 1531, after it had arrived at Rome, Sebastiano says of
Pietro: "Firstly, you sent him to Rome with the statue, to finish and
erect it. What he did and did not do you know; but I must let you
understand that wherever he has worked he has maimed it. Chiefly, he has
shortened the right foot, and it is plainly seen that he has cut off the
toes. He has shortened the fingers of the hands, too, more especially
those of the one which holds the cross, the right; Frizzi says, it seems
to have been worked by a cake-maker, not carved in marble. It looks as if
it had been made by one who worked in dough, it is so stunted. I do not
understand these things, not knowing the manner of working in marble; but
I can very well tell you that those fingers look to me very stumpy. I can
tell you, too, that it is easy to see he has been working on the beard. I
believe a baby would have had more discretion; it looks as though he had
done the hair with a knife without a point; but this can easily be
remedied. He has also cut one of the nostrils, so that with a little more
the whole nose would have been spoiled, so that no one but God could have
mended it, and I believe God inspired you to write your last letter to
Master Zovane da Reggio, my comrade, for if the figure had remained in the
hands of Pietro he would undoubtedly have ruined it." Michael Angelo
transferred the work of finishing from Pietro to Federigo Frizzi.
Sebastiano goes on to say: "Pietro is most malignant now that he is cast
off by you. He does not seem to value you or any one else alive, but
thinks he is a great master; he will find out what he is fast enough, for
I believe the poor young man will never know how to make statues. He has
forgotten the art. The knees of your statue are worth more than all Rome."
Frizzi mended up the mistakes and finished the work on the hair, face,
hands, feet, cross, and the parts undercut. Michael Angelo was evidently
anxious as to the result of this touching up, and as he was much attached
to Vari, he offered to make a new statue, but the courtly Roman replied
that he was entirely satisfied with the one he had received. He regarded
it and esteemed it as a thing of gold, and said that Michael Angelo's
offer proved his noble soul and generosity, inasmuch as when he had
already made what could not be surpassed and was incomparable, he still
wanted to serve his friend better.(126)
This Christ of the Minerva is like a late Greek embodiment of the
Christian ideal; it is a work that has been a good deal criticised,
particularly as to the details, which the letters just quoted prove to
have been finished by assistants away from the supervision of the master.
The arms and torso, and, as Sebastiano justly says, the knees, are very
splendid, and if the spoiled head and extremities were broken away the
fragment, that is to say, the part really executed by the master, would be
as famous as many a fine work of Greece or of Old Rome. As it stands near
a column in the centre of the church in a subdued light it has a presence
of great beauty and sweetness, never allied with so much power before,
notwithstanding that brazen draperies and a sandal hide much of the
reverent workmanship.