THE CHAPEL OF POPE PAUL, AND THE PIETA OF SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE
Michael Angelo wrote a number of sonnets and made many drawings for his
friends, especially for the Marchioness of Pescara and Messer Tomaso dei
Cavalieri, a noble Roman gentleman. For him they were generally subjects
from Greek and Roman mythology, but for the Marchioness the drawings
always represented episodes from the story of the Passion of our Lord. A
Pieta, drawn for this lady, was engraved by Giulio Bonasoni and Tudius
Bononiensis in 1546. There are several drawings in the Print Room of the
British Museum and the Windsor and Oxford Collections of this character
and period. One at Oxford was probably the original sent to Vittoria, but
all are of the same sacred inspiration; in fact, the religious element
becomes very strong indeed in all his later work, just as in the later
work of Titian. These artists had the near prospect of death in view, and
thus they turned their thoughts entirely to work from which they hoped for
reward in the world to come. The fear of hell was not without its
influence upon both of them.
Some of the drawings made by Michael Angelo for his friend, Tomaso
Cavalieri, are mentioned in one of Tomaso's letters, dated 1533.(156)
[Image #46]
THE CRUCIFIXION OF SAINT PETER
THE CHAPEL OF POPE PAUL, THE VATICAN, ROME
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari, Florence_)
"UNIQUE MY LORD,--Some days ago I received a letter from you, which
was very welcome, both because I learned by it that you are well,
and also because I can now be sure that you will soon return. I
was very sorry not to answer at once. However, when you know the
cause, you will hold me excused. On the day your letter reached me
I was very sick, and in such a high fever that I was at the point
of death; and verily I should have died if it had not revived me.
Since then, thank God, I have been well. Messer Bartolomei has now
brought me a sonnet by you, which has made it my duty to write.
Some three days since I received my drawing of Phaeton, which is
exceedingly well done. The Pope, the Cardinal de' Medici, and
every one, have seen it. I do not know what made them want to do
so. The Cardinal expressed a wish to inspect all your drawings,
and they pleased him so much that he said he should like to have a
Tityos and Ganymede done in crystal. I could not prevent him from
using the Tityos, and it is now being executed by Master Giovanni.
I struggled hard to save the Ganymede. The other day I went, as
you requested, to Fra Sebastiano. He sends a thousand messages,
but all to pray you to come back.
"Your affectionate,
"THOMAS CAVALIERI."
Messer Tomaso feared the drawings would be damaged in the workshop of the
gem engraver. There are several of these drawings in existence in good
condition, with no marks of the thumbs of workmen about them.
From the letters referring to the last contract about the Tomb of Julius,
we learn that the frescoes in the Cappella Paolina were not begun in
October 1542. Michael Angelo worked at them with slight interruptions for
seven years; they represent the Conversion of Saint Paul and the Martyrdom
of Saint Peter. They are very highly finished in execution and studied in
grace of composition, but frigid, and too evidently the work of an old
man. The skill of the drawing and foreshortening is masterly as ever, but
he does not appear to have referred to nature for the forms; and even
Michael Angelo without nature became stale. Vasari says, after describing
the frescoes without his customary enthusiasm, "They were his last
productions in painting. He was seventy-five years old when he carried
them to completion; and, as he informed me, he did so with great effort
and fatigue--painting, after a certain age, and especially fresco painting,
not being in truth fit work for old men."
In the spring of 1546 Francis I. of France wrote to Michael Angelo asking
for some fine monument by his hand, and copies of the Pieta della Febbre,
now in St. Peter's, and of the Christ holding the Cross, in Santa Maria
Sopra Minerva, for his chapel. A draft of Michael Angelo's reply runs:--
[Image #47]
THE CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL
THE CHAPEL OF POPE PAUL
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari, Florence_)
_To the most Christian King of France._(157)
"SACRED MAJESTY,--I do not know which is the greater, the grace or
the wonder at it, that your Majesty should have deigned to write
to a man like me, and still more to ask him for things of his,
unworthy even of the name of your Majesty; but, whatever they are,
let your Majesty understand that for a long time I have desired to
serve you in them; but, not having had the opportunity, because
you have not been in Italy where my work is, I have not been able
to do it. Now I am old, and have been occupied these many months
with the work for Pope Paul. But if a little life is still left me
after all these occupations, what I have desired is, as I have
said, a little time to work for your Majesty at my art--one work to
be in marble, one in bronze, and one in painting. And if death
hinders me from carrying out my wish, and if it be possible to
carve statues or to paint in the other life, I shall not fail to
do so there, where there is no more growing old. And I pray God
that He grant your Majesty a long and happy life.
"From Rome, the day XXVI. of April, MDXLVI."
In the letters and poems of this period we note the endeavour to attain to
a style in literature full of rich conceits and elaborate compliment,
which may be compared to the style, elaborate and ornamental, but somewhat
cold and unattractive, of the frescoes in the Cappella Paolina. As he grew
older he devoted himself more entirely to architecture and literature. The
arts of sculpture and painting, as exercised by him, could not be carried
on by assistants; he now perforce had to employ himself upon work in which
the execution could be left to younger hands. He sought the help of
scholars to overhaul and set to rights his poems, sonnets, and thoughts in
words, as the masons and master-builders expressed his thoughts in
architecture--the Dome of St. Peter's, and the cornice of the Farnese
Palace. In the devotional drawings we have mentioned, and an unfinished
group in sculpture, the Deposition from the Cross, now behind the High
Altar of Santa Maria del Fiore at Florence, we have the only further
manifestation of Michael Angelo's genius in his favourite arts. Many of
these drawings appear to be designs for a great picture of the
Crucifixion. He went on executing them long after the death of the
Marchioness of Pescara, who first seems to have incited him to this work.
It almost appears to have become a religious exercise with him; they have
the same meaning as these last lines of a Sonnet.
Ne pinger ne scolpir fia piu che quieti
L' anima volta a quell' Amor divino
Ch' aperse, a prender noi, in croce le braccia.
Painting nor sculpture now can lull to rest
My soul, that turns to His great love on high,
Whose arms to clasp us on the Cross were spread.(158)
[Image #48]
THE PIETA OF SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE
FLORENCE
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari Florence_)
The marble group of the Deposition is so religious in character that it
can be compared with no work of art executed since Michael Angelo's own
early work the Pieta, in St. Peter's, the Madonna della Febbre. Both for
its earnestness and its noble religious sentiment it is an act of worship
to look at it, and the days and nights spent in its execution must have
been periods of the heartiest religious devotion and sorrowing love. The
old sculptor intended this work to have been his monument. The unfinished
head of Nicodemus, who sustains the body of his dear Lord, is his own
portrait, and, unfinished as it is, expresses the deepest devotion and
sadness. Vasari saw this work in progress, and gives us a glimpse into the
home-life of the aged worker, who was never content out of his workshop,
and spent his sleepless nights working at this huge marble with a paper
cap on his head, in which he stuck a lighted candle to see by. The
solitary figure of the old man in the vast and dimly lighted studio,
groping round the inchoate marble; the stillness of the night, broken only
by the sharp click of the mallet and the grating of the chisel, is a
picture of many of the bravest hours of his old age. Vasari, observing all
this, and wishing to do the revered artist a kindness, sent him 40 lbs. of
candles made of goat's fat, knowing that they gutter less than ordinary
dips of tallow. His servant carried them politely to the house two hours
after night-fall, and presented them to Michael Angelo. He refused, and
said he did not want them. The man answered: "Sir, they have almost broken
my back carrying them all this long way from the bridge, and I will not
carry them home again. There is a heap of mud opposite your door, thick
and firm enough to hold them upright. Here then will I set them all up,
and light them." When Michael Angelo heard this he gave way: "Lay them
down; I do not mean you to play pranks at my house door." Vasari tells
another anecdote about the Deposition. Pope Julius III. sent him late one
evening to Michael Angelo's house for a certain drawing. The aged master
came down with a lantern, and, hearing what was wanted, told Urbino to
look for the design. Meanwhile, Vasari turned his attention to one of the
legs of the Christ, which Michael Angelo had been altering. In order to
prevent his seeing it Michael Angelo let the light fall, and they remained
in darkness. He then called for another light, and stepped forth from the
screen of planks behind which he worked, saying: "I am so old that
oftentimes Death plucks me by the cape to go with him, and one day this
body of mine will fall like the lantern, and the light of life will be put
out."
"If life gives us pleasure we ought not to expect displeasure from death,
seeing it is made by the hand of the same master," was a favourite
reflection of Michael Angelo's upon mortality. This Deposition was never
completed, flaws appeared in the marble, and perhaps whilst working in the
imperfect light Michael Angelo's impatient chisel cut too deep. He began
to break up the work, but luckily his servant Antonio, successor to
Urbino, begged the fragments from his master. Francesco Bandini, a
Florentine exile settled in Rome, wished for a work by the master, and,
with Michael Angelo's consent, bought it from Antonio for two hundred
crowns. It was patched up, but apparently not worked upon, and remained in
the garden of Bandini's heir at Monte Cavallo. It was afterwards taken to
Florence and was finally placed in the Duomo in 1722 by the Grand Duke
Cosimo III., where it may now be seen behind the high altar, well-placed,
so that the great cross of the altar looks like the tree from which the
body has just been lowered. So well does the line of the cross behind cut
the group that we cannot help imagining that the artist intended some such
erection to have been placed behind his figures. Those who would see this
group aright must visit the Duomo before seven o'clock on a summer
morning, when the light of the sun falls, though the white robe of a
bishop in one of the high eastern windows, upon the neighbouring pillars
and the floor, and lights up that end of the church; at other times the
darkness of the dome covers the group as the darkness covered the earth
during the tragic hours at Golgotha.
The right arm of the Christ has become over polished and much worn because
it is used as a balustrade by the acolytes, who carelessly run up and down
the steps between the group and the back of the high altar to light the
candles during service. On the other side a rough metal handle has
positively been let into the left side of the Joseph of Arimathea, so that
a clumsy boy may climb the more easily; wooden steps also fit so closely
to the marble that they injure the lines of the group. All the
characteristics of Michael Angelo's impassioned period may be studied in
this group; his favourite mannerisms are there also. Examine the hand of
Joseph, with the middle finger touching the thumb, and compare it with the
allegorical statues of the Medici Chapel. Vasari tells us that Michael
Angelo began another Pieta on a smaller scale; this may be the beautiful
group that has been spoiled by an alteration, now in the courtyard of the
Palazzo Rondini, No. 418, the Corso, Rome. There is a cast of it in the
Belle Arti at Florence. The hanging limbs of the Christ have a most
pathetic effect, and so has the whole expression of the group. The effect
is obtained by the length of the principal lines.
There is a medallion of the Madonna clasping her dead son at the Albergo
dei Poveri, at Genoa, attributed to Michael Angelo; it may have been begun
by him during this long period of old age, but it cannot be called his
work. It has been entirely recarved by an imitator.
Michael Angelo made his famous report condemning the design of Antonio da
Sangallo for the rebuilding of the Farnese palace upon the shores of the
Tiber; it is a mysterious document, in Michael Angelo's own hand, and does
not leave Sangallo a single merit. All the theories are proved by the
precepts of Vitruvius. The adherents of Sangallo resented it very
naturally, and the "Setta Sangallesca" became his bitter enemies. The Pope
himself was dissatisfied with Sangallo, and the design for the cornice was
thrown open to competition. Perino del Vaga, Sebastiano del Piombo,
Giorgio Vasari, and Michael Angelo all competed. Michael Angelo's design
was eventually carried out after he had placed a wooden model of part of
his cornice in position. Vasari, who is the best authority upon this
period of the life of Michael Angelo, attributes to him also the exterior
of the palace from the second story upwards, and the whole of the central
courtyard above the first story, "making it the finest thing of its sort
in Europe." Michael Angelo had also a serious disagreement with Sangallo
before the military committee fortifying the Borgo for the Pope.
When Antonio da Sangallo died at Terni on October 3, 1546, Michael Angelo
succeeded to his post in Rome, architect-in-general to the Pope, the
principal work was, of course, the great Church of St. Peter's. Bramante,
Raphael, and Peruzzi had all been architects-in-chief, and many were the
alterations in the plans. Notwithstanding their differences during his
early life, the design of Bramante was the one that commended itself to
Michael Angelo; he abandoned Sangallo's design; the model for it still
exists and we cannot wonder at Michael Angelo's decision. His criticisms
are given in a letter supposed to be to Bartolomeo Amanati.(159) "It
cannot be denied that Bramante was a brave architect, equal to any one
from the times of the ancients until now. He laid the first plan of Saint
Peter's, not confused, but clear and simple, full of light and detached
from surrounding buildings, so as not to injure any part of the palace. It
was considered a fine thing, and, indeed, it is still manifest that it was
so; and all the architects who have departed from the plan of Bramante, as
Sangallo has done, have departed from the truth. And so it is, and all who
have not prejudiced eyes can see it in his model. He, with his outer
circle of chapels, in the first place takes all the light from the plan of
Bramante; and not only this, but he has not provided any other means of
lighting, and there are so many lurking places, both above and below, all
dark, which would be very convenient for innumerable knaveries, a secure
hiding-place for bandits, false coiners, and all sorts of ribaldry, and
when it was shut up at night twenty-five men would be needed to clear the
building of those in hiding there, and it would be difficult enough to
find them. There is yet another inconvenience: the circle of buildings
with their adjuncts outside added to Bramante's plan would make it
necessary to pull down to the ground the Capella Paolina, the offices of
the Piombo and the Ruota, and more besides; nay, even the Sistine Chapel
would, I believe, not escape." May it not have been that this malicious
arrangement of Sangailo's to destroy Michael Angelo's masterpieces made
the great artist so bitter against him.
Paul III. conferred the post of architect-in-chief at St. Peter's upon
Michael Angelo on January 1, 1547, "commissary, prefect, surveyor of the
works, and architect, with full authority to change the model, form, and
structure of the church at pleasure, and to dismiss and remove the workmen
and foremen employed upon the same." For all this work Michael Angelo
refused payment, declaring that he meant to labour, without recompense,
for the love of God and the reverence he felt for the Prince of the
Apostles. Speaking broadly, the former architects had designed ground
plans of St. Peter's on two lines, the Greek and the Latin crosses.
Bramante, and Baldassare Peruzzi used the Greek cross; Raphael, the
Basilica form, the addition of a long nave made the plan like a Latin
cross; and Sangallo, by adding a huge portico to Peruzzi's design, made
his ground plan a Latin cross. Michael Angelo followed the lines of
Bramante, the Greek cross, designed so that the cupola should be the
dominant note of the building and its principal feature, whether from
within or without, and from whichever side the building was approached.
Michael Angelo's intention may be realised at the back of the present
building, and his work best judged as one walks round the great mass of
masonry to the old entrance to the Sculpture Galleries of the Vatican.
Those who approach Rome in the best way at present open to the newcomer,
by the light railway line from Viterbo, get a magnificent view of the
cupola, apparently rising out of a green hillside, just before they enter
the Eternal City, and then, on their way to the Trastevere station, they
pass behind the building and get their first impression of St. Peter's
from Michael Angelo's own work.(160)
Michael Angelo began his work by pulling down much of Sangallo's
construction, and by severely repressing all sorts of jobbery in
connection with the supply of materials.
Michael Angelo states in a letter to Cardinal Ridolfo Pio of Carpi,(161)
that the study of the nude human figure is necessary to an architect. If
he had also stated that it was an essential to all art workers, many good
judges would have agreed with him.
"MOST REVEREND MONSIGNOR,--When a plan has divers parts all those
which are of one type in quality and quantity have to be decorated
in the same fashion and in the same style, and similarly their
counterparts. But when the plan changes form altogether it is not
only allowable but necessary to change the said adornments and
likewise their counterparts. The intermediate parts are always as
free as you like, just as the nose, which stands in the middle of
the face, is not obliged to correspond with either of the eyes;
but one hand is obliged to be like the other, and one eye must be
as its fellow, because they balance each other. Therefore it is
very certain that the members of architecture depend upon the
members of man. Who has not been, or is not a good master of the
figure, and especially of anatomy, cannot understand it.
"MICHAEL ANGELO BUONARROTI."
Vasari tells us "that the Pope approved of Michael Angelo's model, which
reduced the cathedral to smaller dimensions, but also to a more essential
greatness. He discovered that four of the principal piers, erected by
Bramante and left standing by Antonio da Sangallo, which had to bear the
weight of the tribune, were feeble. These he fortified in part,
constructing a winding staircase at the side with gently sloping steps, up
which beasts of burden ascend with building material, and one can ride on
horseback to the level above the arches. He carried the first cornice,
made of travertine, round the arches--a wonderful piece of work, full of
grace, and very different from the others. Nor could anything be better
done in its kind. He began the two great apses of the transept; and
whereas Bramante, Raffaello, and Peruzzi had designed eight tabernacles
toward the Campo Santo, which arrangement Sangallo adhered to, he reduced
them to three, with three chapels inside."
The sect of Sangallo, headed by Nanni di Baccio Bigio, continued to annoy
and conspire against the aged architect, and though Michael Angelo brought
their machinations to the notice of the Superintendent of the Fabric in
1547,(162) he could not get his chief enemy dismissed.
The master's good friend, Pope Paul III., died in 1549. Michael Angelo
wrote of him to his nephew(163): "It is true that I have suffered great
sorrow and not less loss by the Pope's death, because I have received
benefits from his Holiness, and hoped for even more. God's will be done.
We must have patience. His death was beautiful, fully conscious to the
last word. God have mercy on his soul." His successor, Julius III., was
also friendly to Michael Angelo, who spoke of him in a letter to his old
friend, Giovan Francesco Fattucci, at Florence.(164)
"_To_ MESSER GIOVAN FRANCESCO FATTUCCI, _priest of Santa Maria del
Fiore, My most dear friend at Florence._
"MESSER GIOVAN FRANCESCO,--Dear friend, although for many months we
have not written to each other, yet I have not forgotten our long
and faithful friendship, and wish you well, as I have always done,
and love you with all my heart and more, for the endless
kindnesses I have received. As regards old age, which is upon us
both alike, I should much like to know how yours treats you, for
mine does not content me greatly, so I beg you will write
something to me. You know how that we have a new Pope, and who he
is. All Rome rejoices, thanks be to God, and expects nothing but
the greatest benefit to all, especially to the poor, on account of
his liberality...."
Efforts were made to dislodge Michael Angelo from his post of architect to
St. Peter's. A memorial of grievances(165) was drawn up by the
Superintendent and set before the Pope, stating that Michael Angelo was
"carrying on with a high hand, and letting them know nothing of the work,
so that they do not like his ways, especially in what he keeps pulling
down. The demolition has been, and to-day is, so great that all who
witness it are moved to pity." Michael Angelo evidently satisfied the
Pope, for he was confirmed in his office with even greater powers than
before.
Another plot ripened in 1557, and is excellently described by Vasari:--
"It was some little while before the beginning of 1551, when
Vasari, on his return from Florence to Rome, found the sect of
Sangallo plotting against Michael Angelo. They induced the Pope to
hold a meeting in Saint Peter's, where all the overseers and
workmen connected with the building should attend, and his
Holiness should be persuaded by false insinuations that Michael
Angelo had spoiled the fabric. He had already walled in the apse
of the King where the three chapels are, and carried out the three
upper windows. But it was not known what he meant to do with the
vault. They then, misled by their shallow judgment, made Cardinal
Salviati, the elder, and Marcello Cervini, who was afterwards
Pope, believe that Saint Peter's would be badly lighted. When all
were assembled the Pope told Michael Angelo that the deputies were
of opinion the apse would have but little light. He answered, 'I
should like to hear these deputies speak.' The Cardinal Marcello
rejoined: 'We are here.' Michael Angelo then remarked: 'My lord,
above these three windows there will be other three in the vault,
which is to be built of travertine.' 'You never told us anything
about this,' said the Cardinal. Michael Angelo responded: 'I am
not, nor do I mean to be, obliged to tell your lordships, or
anybody else, what I ought or wish to do. It is your business to
provide the money, and to see that it is not stolen. As regards
the plans of the building, you have to leave them to me.' Then he
turned to the Pope and said: 'Holy Father, behold what gains are
mine! Unless the hardships I endure are beneficial to my soul, I
lose my time and my labour.' The Pope, who loved him, laid his
hands upon his shoulders and said: 'You are gaining both for soul
and body; have no fear!' Michael Angelo's self-defence increased
the Pope's love, and he ordered him to repair next day with Vasari
to the Vigna Giulia, where they held long discourses upon matters
of art."
Vasari also tells us of the transfer of a piece of engineering work from
Michael Angelo to his enemy--if such a small man deserves to be called the
enemy of Michael Angelo--Nanni di Baccio Bigio. The old bridge of Santa
Maria had long shown signs of giving way, and it had to be rebuilt. Paul
III. entrusted the work to Michael Angelo. Nanni got it transferred to him
by the influence of his friends with the new Pope. The man laid his
foundations badly. Michael Angelo, riding over the new bridge one day with
Vasari, cried out: "Giorgio, the bridge shakes beneath us; let us spur on
before it gives way with us upon it." Ultimately the prophecy was
fulfilled, and the bridge fell during a great inundation. Its ruins are
known as the Ponte Rotto to this day.
Julius III. died in 1555, and Cardinal Marcello Cervini was elected in his
stead, under the title of Marcellus II. He had been Michael Angelo's
adversary at the great conference, so the hopes of the Setti Sangalleschi
revived, and Michael Angelo began to think of accepting the oft-repeated
invitations of the Duke of Tuscany, who had long pressed him to come and
reside again in Florence, and dignify his native city with his presence
during his remaining years; but Marcellus died after a reign of only a few
weeks, and Pius IV., the next Pope, persuaded Michael Angelo not to
forsake his work at Saint Peter's. In a letter to Vasari, intended for the
ears of the Duke, Michael Angelo states his mind.(166)
"_To_ MESSER GIORGIO, _Excellent Painter, in Florence._
"I was set to work upon Saint Peter's by force, and I have served
now about eight years, not only for nothing, but with the utmost
injury and discomfort to myself. Now that the work is getting
forward, and there is money to spend, and I am about to turn the
vault of the cupola, if I left Rome it would be the ruin of the
edifice, and for me a great disgrace throughout all Christendom,
and to my soul a grievous sin. Therefore, Messer Giorgio, my
friend, I pray you that on my part you will thank the Duke for his
most gracious offer, and that you will ask his Lordship to give me
leave to continue here until such time as I can depart with fame
and honour and without sin.
"The eleventh day of May, 1555.
"Your MICHAEL ANGELO BUONARROTI, in Rome."
Early in the year 1557 serious illness seized Michael Angelo, and his good
friends the Cardinal of Carpi, Donato Giannotti, Tomaso Cavalieri,
Francesco Bandini, and Lottino ultimately succeeded in persuading him to
make a model of his cupola, that the work might not be impeded or altered
in the event of his death. He mentions this in a letter to his nephew,
Lionardo.(167) "I prayed his Lordship that he would concede me so much
time that I could leave the works at St. Peter's at such a point that my
plans could not be changed. As yet this point has not been reached; and
more, I am now obliged to construct a large wooden model for the cupola
and lantern, to secure its being finished as it was meant to be. All Rome,
and especially the Cardinal of Carpi, prayed me to do this, so that I
believe that I shall have to remain here not less than a year; and so much
time I beg the Duke to allow me for the love of Christ and Saint Peter, so
that I may come home to Florence without such a grief, but with a mind
free from the necessity of returning to Rome." This model was constructed
by a French master, named Jean, and took a year to make, as Michael Angelo
expected.
Continuous intrigues caused Michael Angelo to send in his resignation in a
haughty letter dated February 13, 1560, but Pius IV. confirmed the aged
artist in his office, and forbade any alteration of his design for Saint
Peter's after his death. Nanni di Baccio Bigio managed to influence the
deputies so that they appointed him Clerk of the Works instead of Pier
Luigi, surnamed Gaeta, who was recommended by Michael Angelo in a
letter(168) to them.
Nanni then made a report, severely blaming Michael Angelo. The Pope had an
interview with the artist, and sent his relative, Gabrio Serbelloni to
report on the works. It was found that the irrepressible Nanni had again
calumniated Michael Angelo, and he was therefore dismissed.
Notwithstanding the Pope's brief Michael Angelo's design was most
seriously altered after his death by the erection of a long nave, making
the ground plan a Latin instead of Greek Cross. His idea appears to have
been that people should enter the church up a majestic flight of steps
through a gigantic door, and the hollow recesses of the huge dome should
be the dominant impression as soon as the portal was passed. To get his
effect it is necessary to proceed half-way up the present nave with closed
eyes, or merely looking at the pavement, the eyes religiously kept down.
Any one who will make this simple experiment (it is necessary to have a
friend as guide to tell you when you have arrived at the right point of
view) will see that Michael Angelo intended his building to have the
effect of a coherent geometrical whole. The sublime concave of the dome,
with the four arms of the great cross of equal size, will be all at once
grasped by the eye. The huge building is like a great naturally-formed
crystal with mathematically proportioned limbs, beautiful in large things
as in small. An old writer has well said: "The cross, which Michael Angelo
made Greek, is now Latin; and if it be thus with the essential form, judge
ye of the details!" The wooden model of the dome made under Michael
Angelo's eyes is still in existence, and was followed fairly accurately by
Giacomo della Porta, who completed that portion of the work.
Amongst the other schemes that occupied Michael Angelo was the plan of the
improvements upon the Campidoglio, undertaken by a society of gentlemen
and artists. Paul III. approved their design, and we may believe, as all
Roman citizens will tell us, that Michael Angelo conceived, at least in
its broad lines, the present effect of the Capitol. Vasari informs us that
Michael Angelo's old friend, Tomaso dei Cavalieri, superintended the work
after the great sculptor's death; we may trust him not to have departed
from the master's plans. Another scheme that interested Michael Angelo
considerably was the design for the church that the Florentine residents
in Rome wished to erect to their patron saint, San Giovanni. A letter to
his nephew Lionardo mentions it.(169) "The Florentines are minded to erect
a great edifice, that is to say, their church, and all of them with one
accord put pressure on me to attend to this. I have answered that I am
here by the Duke's licence for the work at Saint Peter's, and that without
his leave they will get nothing out of me." The Duke not only gave his
permission but was enthusiastic about the scheme. Michael Angelo promised
to send him his plan. "This I have had copied and drawn out more clearly
than I have been able to do it, on account of old age, and will send it to
your most Illustrious Lordship." Vasari tells us that Tiberio Calcagni,
"of gentle manners and discreet behaviour," not only copied this design,
but also made a model in clay under the master's supervision. Michael
Angelo informed the building committee that "if they carried it out,
neither the Romans or the Greeks ever erected so fine an edifice in any of
their temples; words, the like of which neither before or afterwards
issued from his lips, for he was exceedingly modest," says Vasari. Money
was lacking and the scheme fell through; both model and drawing were
allowed to perish. The present church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, in
Strada Giulia, is the work of Giacomo della Porta; the west part is by
Alessandro Galilei.
Tiberio Calcagni was appointed to finish the bust of Brutus, now in the
Bargello at Florence. Michael Angelo began it for Cardinal Ridolfi at the
request of his friend, Donato Giannotti. Tiberio had the sense and good
feeling not to touch his master's own work, but only carved the base and
the drapery; the face of the bust remains a magnificent specimen of the
great sculptor's handiwork. This powerfully-conceived head is said to have
been taken from a small intaglio cut in cornelian. It has been pointed out
that the chisel marks are cut by both the right and left hand. The vigour
of the workmanship indicates that the bust was begun soon after Michael
Angelo left Florence in 1584, and may indicate Michael Angelo's feelings
towards the tyrant Alessandro de' Medici. We may remember in this
connection that the exiles nicknamed Lorenzino, his murderer, Brutus.
The Duke of Florence, through Vasari,(170) attempted to get at the ideas
of Michael Angelo with regard to the Medici Chapel and the entrance to the
Laurenziana, but the old man had lost and forgotten the plans, if he had
ever made them. The difficulties that beset the Duke and the academicians
in completing the designs, and the meagreness of Michael Angelo's
instructions to them, must give us pause when we attempt to attribute the
faults of these monuments to the master mind. "About the staircase of the
Library, of which so much has been said to me, believe that if I could
remember how I had arranged it I should not need to be begged for
information. There comes into my mind, as in a dream, the image of a
certain staircase, but I do not believe this can be the one I then thought
of, for it seems so stupid. Nevertheless, I will write about it."
Leone Leoni erected the monument of Giangiacomo de' Medici in Milan
Cathedral from a design supplied by Michael Angelo at the request of Pope
Pius IV. It is a fine monument and the bronzes are excellent. In
criticising the design we must remember that Michael Angelo had never seen
the church where it was to be placed, and that Leone was not the man to
hesitate in taking liberties with another's design, good sculptor as he
was, and no doubt Michael Angelo would have approved of a good sculptor
like him making the design fit the workmanship.
[Image #49]
BRUTUS
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, THE BARGELLO, FLORENCE
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari, Florence_)
The old master is supposed to have supplied designs for many other
buildings in Rome, such as the Porta Pia and the Porta del Popolo, but
there is nothing about them to tell us that his genius is in them;
probably slight sketches were handed over to journeymen, who did pretty
much as they liked with them. It was otherwise with the great restoration
of the Baths of Diocletian. Michael Angelo was commissioned by Pius IV. to
convert them into the Christian Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The
design has been altered by Vansitelli in 1749, and horrible coloured
imitations of clumsy marble altars have been painted on the walls.
Churchwardens' whitewash would here be well applied. If the visitor will
wait in this church until dusk, when all the tawdry paintings vanish into
darkness, then the great columns will stand out in all their dignity, and
the noble cornice cast a splendid shadow over the pillars of the huge
hall. The roof and the pavement, with their expression of space and
distance, will whisper "Michael Angelo!"
When Henry II. of France died, in 1559, his widow, Catherine de' Medici,
wrote to Michael Angelo asking him to supply at least the design for the
equestrian statue of the late King she desired to set up in the courtyard
of the royal chateau at Blois. The sketch was prepared and the work given
to Daniele da Volterra. Catherine wrote again in 1560,(171) telling the
sculptor that she had deposited 6000 golden scudi with Gianbattista Gondi
for the said work, "therefore, since on my side nothing remains to be
done, I entreat you by the love you have always shown to my house, to our
country,(172) and lastly to genius, that you will endeavour with all
diligence and assiduity, so far as your years permit, to carry out this
noble work, so that we may see and recognise my lord as in life by the
accustomed excellence of your unique genius. Although you cannot add to
your fame, yet you will at least augment your reputation for a most
grateful and loving spirit toward myself and my ancestors, and will
through centuries keep fresh the memory of my lawful and only love, for
which I shall be ready and willing to reward you liberally." The Queen had
seen Michael Angelo's sketch, and she adds in a postscript that "the
king's head must be without curls, and the modern rich style of armour and
trappings must be employed." She is very particular about the likeness and
sends a portrait; evidently she did not want anything like the Roman
generals in the Medici Chapel at Florence. When Michael Angelo died the
work was left in the hands of Daniele, who was a slow workman, as Cellini
tells us. In 1566 Daniele died also, and only the horse was cast; it now
serves as part of Biard's statue of Louis XIII.
In 1560 Leone Leoni made the well-known medal of Michael Angelo, which is
our best portrait of him. It represents him in old age. Vasari relates the
incident: "At this time the Cavaliere Leone made a very lovely portrait of
Michael Angelo upon a medal, and to meet his wishes modelled on the
reverse a blind man led by a dog, with this legend round the rim:
DOCEBO INIQUOS VIAS TVAS, ET IMPII AD TE CONVERTENTUR
It pleased Michael Angelo so much that he gave Leone a wax model of a
Hercules strangling Antaeus, by his own hand, together with some drawings.
There exist no other portraits of Michael Angelo, except two in painting,
one by Bugiardini, the other by Jacopo del Conte; and one in bronze, in
full relief, made by Daniele da Volterra. These, and Leoni's medal, from
which many copies have been made, and a great number of them have been
seen by me in several parts of Italy and abroad." Francesco d'Olanda made
a drawing of the old man in hat and mantle.(173) Another portrait of
Michael Angelo is introduced into Marcello Venusti's copy of the Last
Judgment, now in the Picture Gallery at Naples. The original study for it
may be the portrait in the Casa Buonarroti, at Florence; it was frequently
repeated by him. One replica may be the portrait, said to be by Michael
Angelo's own hand, at the Capitol. The apostle in red on the spectator's
right of the picture of the Assumption, by Daniele da Volterra, in the
Church of the Trinita de' Monti, in Rome, is also said to be a portrait of
Daniele's friend and master, who had supplied him with the design for his
great Crucifixion in the same church. There is a life-size, full-face
charcoal drawing of the master in the Teyler Museum at Haarlem which may
be by the hand of Daniele, it has been pricked for tracing. Bonasoni
engraved a profile portrait of Michael Angelo; it is dated 1546. It is a
very faithful and beautiful piece of work, and tells us what he looked
like at the age of seventy-two.(174) The bronze bust by Daniele da
Volterra, of which there are several copies, looks as if it had been
modelled from a mask taken after death; at least, it was finished from
one. Battista Lorenzi executed the bronze bust on Michael Angelo's tomb at
Santa Croce, in Florence, from a similar mask.(175)
During all these later years, Michael Angelo kept up a brisk
correspondence with his dutiful nephew Lionardo about the purchase of land
in Florence, and other family matters.
Giovan Simone, the elder of Michael Angelo's surviving brothers, died in
1548.(176)
"LIONARDO,--I hear from your last of Giovan Simone's death. It
gives me the greatest sorrow, for I still hoped, although I am
old, to have seen him before he died, and before I died. God has
willed it so. Patience! I should like to hear particularly how he
died, and if he confessed and communicated with all the ordinances
of the Church. For if he did so, and I know it, I shall suffer
less." All through his life Michael Angelo is most punctilious
about the observances of the Church.
Lionardo was now the only hope of continuing the family, so his
uncle reminds him that if he does not soon marry and get children,
his property will all go to the Hospital of San Martino.(177) Old
bachelor as he is, he gives his nephew advice, in another letter,
as to the choice of a wife: "You ought not to look for a dower,
but only to consider whether the girl is well brought up, healthy,
of good character, and noble blood. You are not yourself of such
parts and person as to be worthy of the first beauty of Florence.
Let me tell you not to run after money, but only look for virtue
and good name."
Lionardo married Cassandra Ridolfi in the year 1553, and the first child
born of this marriage was a boy, by Michael Angelo's wish he was named
Buonarroto. "I shall be very pleased if the name of Buonarroto does not
die out of our family, it having lasted three hundred years with us."(178)
Vasari wrote to Michael Angelo describing the festivities at the
christening. Giorgio held the child at the font in the Baptistry, "Mio bel
Giovanni," as Michael Angelo always called it.
The letters to Vasari are full of a courtly friendship and regard; they
are very pleasant reading. One of them is the most beautiful and touching
letter by his hand, referring to the death of his servant Francesco,
called Urbino.(179)
"MESSER GIORGIO, DEAR FRIEND,--Although I write but badly, yet will
I say a few words in reply to yours. You know that Urbino is dead,
for which I owe the greatest thanks to God; at the same time my
loss is heavy and sorrow infinite. The grace is this, that while
Urbino living kept me alive, in dying he has taught me to die not
unwillingly, but rather with a desire for death. I had him with me
twenty-six years, and always found him faithful and true. Now that
I had made him rich, and thought to keep him as the staff and rest
of my old age, he has departed, and the only hope left to me is
that of seeing him again in Paradise, and of this God has given a
sign in his most happy death. Even more than dying, it grieved him
to leave me alive in this treacherous world, with so many
troubles; the better part of me went with him, nothing is left to
me but endless sorrow. I commend myself to you, and beg you, if it
is not a trouble to you, to make my excuses to Messer
Benvenuto(180) for not answering his letter, for grief abounds in
such thoughts as these, so that I cannot write. Commend me to him,
and I commend myself to you.
"Your MICHAEL ANGELO BUONARROTA, in Rome.
"The 23 day of February, 1556."
Was ever servant loved after this fashion by his master?
Urbino appointed Michael Angelo as one of his executors, and the old man
fulfilled his irksome duties with fidelity. Urbino's brother was Raphael's
well-known pupil Il Fattore. Cornelia, Urbino's wife, corresponded about
the children and other affairs. Michael Angelo had to approve her choice
of a second husband, and interviewed him, and made him promise to be a
second father to Urbino's children.
The unusual event of an excursion by Michael Angelo into the country took
place in 1556, possibly with a view to avoiding the troubles feared in
Rome from the Duke of Alva, Spanish Viceroy of Naples. Michael Angelo
informed his nephew that he was making a pilgrimage to Loreto, but feeling
tired stopped to rest at Spoleto. To Vasari he says: "I have in these days
had a great pleasure, but with great discomfort and expense, among the
mountains of Spoleto, visiting the hermits there. Less than half of me has
come back to Rome, for truly there is no peace except among the
woods."(181)