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VOLUMES IN THE 
 
 EDITED BY ESTELLE M. HURLL 
 
 1. RAPHAEL. 7. GREEK SCULPTURE. 
 
 2. REMBRANDT. " 8. TITIAN. 
 
 3. MICHELANGELO. 9. LANDSEER. 
 
 4. MILLET. 10. CORREGGIO. \ 
 
 5. REYNOLDS. . II. TUSCAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 6. MURILLO. iA1. VAN DYCK. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 
 
 / 
 
 'J 
 
Alinari, Photo. John Andrew & Son, So. 
 
 MICHELANGELO BUONAROTTI (attributed to Bugiardini) 
 Uffizi Gallery, Florence 
 
(Masterpiece* of (2Uf 
 
 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 COMPANY 
 <&fo tttoerjnbe prej# Cambrt&0e 
 
All : :U AO N6?^3 
 
 I 
 
 COPYRIGHT, I90O, BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
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 selec- 
 tions 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 PICTUEES 
 
 Portrait of Michelangelo. Attributed to Bugiardini. 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 i. On Michelangelo's Character as an Artist . . . vii 
 
 ii. On Books of Reference x 
 
 m. Historical Directory of the Works of Art in this 
 
 Collection xii 
 
 rv. Collateral Readings from Literature xv 
 
 v. Outline Table of the Principal Events in Michel- 
 angelo's Life xviii 
 
 vi. Some of Michelangelo's Famous Italian Contem- 
 poraries xx 
 
 I. MADONNA AND CHILD 1 
 
 H. DAVID 7 
 
 III. CUPID 13 
 
 IV. MOSES 19 
 
 *V. THE HOLY FAMILY 25 
 
 VI. THE PIETl 31 
 
 VII. CHRIST TRIUMPHANT 37 
 
 * VIII. THE CREATION OF MAN 43 
 
 * IX. JEREMIAH 49 
 
 t X. DANIEL 55 
 
 • XL THE DELPHIC SIBYL 61 
 
 . *XII. THE CUM^AN SIBYL 67 
 
 XIII. LORENZO DE' MEDICI 73 
 
 XIV. TOMB OF GIULIANO DE' MEDICI 79 
 
 * XV. CENTRAL FIGURES FROM THE LAST JUDGMENT . 85 
 
 XVI. PORTRAIT OF MICHELANGELO (See Frontispiece) . . 91 
 
 PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF PROPER NAMES AND 
 
 FOREIGN WORDS 95 
 
 Note : All the pictures with the exception of the Cupid were made 
 from photographs hy 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 terribilita is his predomi- 
 nant 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 fascina- 
 tion 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 right- 
 eousness. 
 
 Considered both as a sculptor and a painter, Michel- 
 angelo's one vehicle of expression was the human body. 
 His works are " form-poems," through which he uttered 
 
 \\ 
 
viii MICHELANGELO 
 
 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 sculp- 
 ture. 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 sug- 
 gests 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 asun* 
 der the multitudes. 
 
 In his love of action and his passion for the human 
 
INTRODUCTION ix 
 
 form lay the elements of his art most easily lending them- 
 selves to exaggeration. That the master did indeed per- 
 mit 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. 
 
 v 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 Pieta 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 with two great mas- 
 ters of dissimilar arts, Milton and Beethoven. There are 
 
 1 See notes on the Life of Michelangelo Buonarotti in the Blash- 
 field-Hopkins edition of Vasari. 
 
x MICHELANGELO 
 
 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 sol- 
 emn harmonies. 
 
 II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 
 
 The original materials for the study of Michelangelo's 
 life and work are the two biographies by his contempo- 
 raries, 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 en- 
 tirely 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 Con- 
 divi'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 mas- 
 
INTRODUCTION xi 
 
 ter. 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 Eng- 
 lish-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 col- 
 lection 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 sub* 
 
xii MICHELANGELO 
 
 ject, a word singularly independent of others' conclusions, 
 and influenced by an artistic and literary nature of rare 
 sensitiveness. The work contains a useful list of Michel- 
 angelo's works. 
 
 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 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 au- 
 thorship of the painting is not certainly known. Symonds says 
 that it " may perhaps be ascribed with some show of probabil- 
 ity 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 
 
INTRODUCTION xiii 
 
 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), remain- 
 ing 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 Gual- 
 fonda (Ruccellai) Gardens, Florence, by Professor Milanesi and 
 the famous Florentine sculptor, Santarelli. On a cursory exam- 
 ination 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 re- 
 stored the arm, and the Cupid passed by purchase into the pos- 
 session of the English nation." It is now in the Museum of 
 South Kensington. 
 
 4. Moses, a statue on the tomb commemorative of Julius II., 1 
 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 orna- 
 mented with more than forty statues and to be of great size 
 (34£ X 23 feet). The fickleness of the Pope caused a contin- 
 ual 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 zeal* 
 
 1 The Pope, Julius II., is buried at St. Peter's. 
 
xiv MICHELANGELO 
 
 ous for the completion of the tomb. A succession of contracts 
 were made and broken, each one reducing the size and impor- 
 tance of the design. The artist was continually in demand for 
 other work. Finally, in 1542, to leave him free for the ser- 
 vices 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. 
 
 5. Holy Family, a tempera painting belonging to the Flor- 
 entine period 1501-1505, and painted for Angelo Doni. It is 
 now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. 
 
 6. The Pieta, a marble group executed by the order of the 
 Cardinal di San Dionigi according to a contract drawn up Au- 
 gust 28, 1498. It was placed in the old basilica of St. Peter's 
 (Rome), in a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Fever (Ma- 
 donna 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, hold- 
 ing 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 com- 
 pleted 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 Del- 
 phic Sibyl, the Cumcean Sibyl, frescoes on the ceiling of the 
 Sistine Chapel, Rome, begun in 1508 at the order of the Pope 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xv 
 
 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 pro- 
 gressed. 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 pon- 
 tificate 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 mat- 
 ter 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 paint- 
 ing 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 Bene* 
 dictis, translated by Dr. Neale. 
 
xvi MICHELANGELO 
 
 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 Read- 
 ing 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 Pieta : — 
 
 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. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xvu 
 
 Daniel : — 
 
 Sir Edwin Arnold. Poem, The Feast of Belshazzar. 
 The Delphic Sibyl : — 
 
 Lord Houghton. Delphi, a poem included in Long- 
 fellow's collection of Poems of Places, volume on 
 Greece. 
 The Cumaean Sibyl : — 
 
 Virgil. iEneid, 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. II 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. 
 
xviii MICHELANGELO 
 
 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 Pieta (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 decora- 
 tion 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 car- 
 toon (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 IL 
 
 (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). 
 
INTRODUCTION xix 
 
 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 facade of church 
 of S. Lorenzo (Florence) for Pope Leo X. (p. 323). 
 1518. Contract for facade of S. Lorenzo, Jan. 19 (p. 328). 
 1518, 1519. To and from Florence and Carrara for marble 
 (pp. 331, 339, 341, 342). 
 
 1520. Facade 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 de- 
 
 fend 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). 
 
xx MICHELANGELO 
 
 1541. Last Judgment shown to the public, Christmas day 
 
 (vol. ii. p. 58). 
 
 1542. Work assigned by Paul III. for frescoes in the Pauline 
 
 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 Flor- 
 ence 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 Flor- 
 ence 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. Clement VII., 1523-1534 
 
 Innocent VIIL, 1484-1492. Paul III., 1534-1550. 
 
 Alexander VI., 1492-1503. Marcellus II., 1550-1555. 
 
 Pius III., 1503-1503. Paul IV., 1555-1555. 
 
 Julius II., 1503-1513. Pius IV., 1555-1559. 
 
 Leo X., 1513-1522. Pius V., 1559-1566. 
 Hadrian VI., 1522-1523. 
 
 MEN OF LETTERS. 
 
 Boiardo, 1434-1494, poet (Orlando Innamorato). 
 Ariosto, 1474-1533, poet (Orlando Furioso). 
 
INTRODUCTION xn 
 
 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 II 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. 
 
xxii MICHELANGELO 
 
 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 
 
 
 
 it 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 Bartolommeo, 1475-1517 
 
 
 
 il 
 
 Francesco Granacci, 1477-1543 (friend of 
 
 Michelangelo) " 
 
 Giuliano Bugiardini, 1475-1554 (friend of 
 
 Michelangelo) " 
 
 Raphael, 1483-1520 
 
 
 
 it 
 
 Andrea del Sarto, 1486-1531 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 Sebastiano del Piombo, 1485-1547 
 
 
 
 it 
 
 Giorgio Vasari, 1512-1574 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 Giovanni Bellini, 1428-1516 
 
 
 
 Venetian 
 
 Giorgione, 1477-1510 
 
 
 
 si 
 
 Titian, 1477-1576 
 
 
 
 it 
 
 Tintoretto, 1518-1594 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 Paolo Veronese, 1528-1588 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 Perugino, 1446-1523 
 
 
 
 Umbrian 
 
 Bazzi, 1477-1549 
 
 
 
 Sienese 
 
 Baldassare Peruzzi, 1481-1536 (also 
 
 architect) 
 
 a 
 
 Domenico Beccafumi, 1486-1551 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 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, estab- 
 lished press at Venice 1490. 
 
 Vittoria Colonna, 1490-1547, poet. 
 
THE MADONNA AND CHILD 
 
 About two thousand years ago a babe was born 
 in the little Judsean 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. 1 To 
 make this clear we sometimes add the initials A. d., 
 standing for the Latin words, Anno Domini, mean- 
 ing 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 1 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. 
 
• •••_•• • 
 
 2 :\ : : : : >•: • : : mich^iangelo 
 
 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 great- 
 ness 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. 
 The Italians always refer to the mother of Jesus 
 
1 » > 
 
 
 Alinari, Photo. 
 
 John Andrew & Son, 8c. 
 
 MADONNA AND CHILD 
 
 National Museum, Florence 
 
THE MADONNA AND CHILD 5 
 
 as the Madonna, which is the old Italian way of 
 addressing a lady. This representation of the Ma- 
 donna 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 wonder- 
 ful 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 mes- 
 sage 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. 1 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." 
 
 * Isaiah, chapter ix. verse 6. 
 
6 MICHELANGELO 
 
 Our illustration is from a bas-relief by Michel- 
 angelo, 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 sur- 
 face of the marble. A child's figure in the back- 
 ground 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 sculp- 
 ture in this book, 1 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. 
 
 There are reasons for liking such work all the 
 better for being unfinished. Some of the most 
 delightful stories ever written, like those of Haw- 
 thorne, leave something at the end still unexplained. 
 The reader's imagination is then free to go on for- 
 ever 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 exer- 
 cise our own fancy upon them. He sketches his 
 thought in a few noble lines, and each may round 
 out for himself the completed ideal. 
 
 1 Note particularly the Cupid on page 15, and the tomb of Giuliano 
 de' Medici on page 81. 
 
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- 
 bey ond 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 im- 
 portant 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 ter- 
 rible 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 : 1 " 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." 
 
 Now it happened that David's three elder brothers 
 
 1 1 Samuel, chapter xvii. verses 8, 9. 
 
8 MICHELANGELO 
 
 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.' 
 
 " 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 
 
Alinari, Photo- 
 
 John Andrew & Son. Sc. 
 
 DAVID 
 
 Academy of Fine Arts, Florence 
 
DAVID 11 
 
 he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, 
 6 1 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, i 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 Philis- 
 tine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took 
 thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philis- 
 tine 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 
 
12 MICHELANGELO 
 
 thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head there- 
 with. And when the Philistines saw their champion 
 was dead, they fled." 1 
 
 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. 
 
 1 1 Samuel, chapter xvii. verses 33-51. 
 
m 
 
 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 god- 
 dess 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 straight- 
 way fell in love. The wound was at once a pain and 
 a delight. Some traditions say that he shot blind- 
 folded, — his aim seemed often so at random. Some- 
 times 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 war- 
 like, 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, 
 
14 MICHELANGELO 
 
 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 wor- 
 shipping 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. 
 
 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 
 
John Andrew & Son, 8c. 
 
 CUPID 
 
 South Kensington Museum, London 
 
CUPID 17 
 
 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, how- 
 ever, his own, and was not at all such as a Greek 
 would have imagined. Classic art always repre- 
 sented 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 inno- 
 cently 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." 1 
 
 So he put into a pagan fancy a new and higher 
 meaning. 
 
 To understand fully the qualities of this work of 
 art, one ought to see it from many points of view, 
 
 1 From one of Michelangelo's sonnets translated by Wordsworth- 
 
18 MICHELANGELO 
 
 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 con- 
 sidered 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 He- 
 brew leader is represented at the height of his 
 career. He was a prophet, a poet, a military com- 
 mander, 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 slav- 
 ery 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." 1 
 
 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 
 1 Exodus, chapter ii. verses 3, 4, Revised Version. 
 
20 MICHELANGELO 
 
 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." ! Thus Moses became the 
 leader of his people in their exodus, or departure 
 from Egypt. 
 
 After many strange experiences, the great com- 
 pany of emigrants made the passage of the Eed Sea 
 in safety, and Moses showed his poetic gifts in a 
 song of triumph. Many years of slavery had taken 
 the spirit out of the Hebrews, and they needed a 
 wise head and a firm hand to govern them. Moses 
 
 1 Exodus, chapter iii. verses 1C and 17. 
 
John Andrew & Son, Sc. 
 
 MOSES 
 Church o) S. Pietro in Vincoli, Rome 
 
MOSES 23 
 
 had both, and he was, besides, a man of God. 
 Going apart from them for a season of divine com- 
 munion on the mountain, he spent forty days in 
 preparation for a system of government. On his 
 return he brought with him two tables of stone, 
 inscribed with the ten great commandments, which 
 are at the foundation of right character. He had 
 also detailed directions for their daily conduct, and 
 for their religious ceremonial. 
 
 The people for whose good all these plans were 
 made were in the mean time discouraged by the 
 long absence of their leader. They had no idea 
 how much he was doing for them, and in their folly 
 they forgot his teachings, and began to practise the 
 idolatrous customs they had seen in Egypt. On 
 descending the mountain, Moses found them wor- 
 shipping the golden image of a calf. It is not to 
 be wondered at that, as the historian says, 1 " Moses' 
 anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his 
 hands, and brake them beneath the mount." 
 
 Again Moses went up into the mount for com- 
 munion with God, and again two tables of stone 
 were inscribed with the ten commandments, to re- 
 place those which had been destroyed. Again, also, 
 he was gone forty days, and this time he was given 
 a mysterious revelation of the goodness of God. 
 
 Thus it was that when he came down the people 
 were afraid to come near, for 2 " the skin of his face 
 shone," or "put forth beams," as the expression 
 
 1 Exodus, chapter xxxii. verse 19. 
 
 2 Ibid , chapter xxxiv. verse 30. See Revised Version. 
 
24 MICHELANGELO 
 
 reads in some Bible translations. In the old Latin 
 version made by Jerome in the fifth century, and 
 known as the Vulgate, translated into what is now 
 called the Douay Bible, we read that " Moses' face 
 was horned." This is why all the old artists, who 
 were guided by the Vulgate, represented Moses 
 with horns. These horns became, as it were, sym- 
 bols of Moses' inspiration as a prophet. 
 
 Michelangelo followed the prevailing custom in 
 using these curious symbols. The long curling 
 beard gives his hero the aspect of a poet. The 
 tables of stone show him to be a law-giver. But 
 of all the qualities of this many-sided man seen 
 in the great statue, the most conspicuous are his 
 qualities of leadership, — the keen glance, the com- 
 manding air, the alert attitude, the determined look. 
 He seems ready to spring to his feet if occasion 
 demands. We see also something of his faults, of 
 the impulsive anger which slew the Egyptian, and 
 dashed in pieces the tables of stone, and of the 
 arrogance which cost him the privilege of entering 
 Canaan. 
 
 He was not permitted to see his labors carried to 
 completion, but on the borders of Canaan " went up 
 into the mountain of Nebo, . . . and died there in 
 the land of Moab, according to the word of the 
 Lord. And he buried him in a valley . . . over 
 against Beth-peor ; but no man knoweth of his sep- 
 ulchre unto this day." 
 
THE HOLY FAMILY 
 
 The pictures we have thus far studied in this col- 
 lection are reproductions of works of sculpture. 
 This is the art which Michelangelo loved best. He 
 was, however, a painter also, and in the later years 
 of his life he was even drawn into architecture. 
 Painting was the first art he studied, but he soon 
 laid it aside for sculpture, and after that returned 
 to it from time to time throughout his life. 
 
 This picture of the Holy Family is from a tempera 
 painting. It shows us a glimpse of the home life of 
 the child Jesus. We have already seen in the bas- 
 relief of the Madonna and Child how thoughtful a 
 mood was sometimes upon the mother and her boy. 
 In this picture they are making merry together. 
 The mother, seated on the ground, tosses the boy 
 with her strong arms, for her husband Joseph to 
 catch. She is a beautiful woman, large, and full of 
 life and vigor. The boy is a healthy, happy child, 
 with perfect confidence in his mother. He rests his 
 fat little hands on her head to steady himself. 
 
 Joseph, bald and gray, takes the play a little 
 more seriously, as he gently lifts the boy from the 
 mother's arms. He has a special care for the child. 
 It was he who was warned by an angel in a dream 
 
26 MICHELANGELO 
 
 that it was dangerous to remain in Judaea. It was 
 he who " took the young child and his mother by 
 night and departed into Egypt." 1 It was he again 
 who duly brought them back to their native country 
 when the cruel king was dead who had threatened 
 the child's life. After the return from Egypt Joseph 
 and his family settled in the little town of Nazareth, 
 where he followed the trade of a carpenter. 
 
 Now Jesus had a cousin, a boy who was not far 
 from the same age. His name was John, and his 
 mission in life was closely connected with that of 
 Jesus. He was to grow up a great preacher, and 
 finally to lead people to Jesus himself. His parents 
 knew before his birth, from an angelic visitation, 
 that he was to be a prophet. His mother Eliza- 
 beth, and Mary the mother of Jesus, used to talk 
 together, before their children were born, of the 
 strange future in store for them. We like to think 
 that the two boys grew up as companions and play- 
 mates. 
 
 It is this little boy John who is seen in the back 
 of the picture, at the right, coming up as if to join 
 the child Jesus in his romp. We see his eager little 
 face, with the long hair blown back from it, just 
 above the coping stone surrounding the garden in- 
 closure which the Holy Family occupy. He carries 
 over his left shoulder a slender reed cross, such as 
 is given him in all the old works of art as a symbol 
 of his prophetic character. 
 
 You may say when you look at the picture that 
 
 1 Matthew, chapter ii. verses 13, 14. 
 
Alinari, Photo. 
 
 John Andrew & Son, Sc. 
 
 THE HOLY FAMILY 
 Uffizi Gallery, Florence 
 
THE HOLY FAMILY 2d 
 
 this is such a group as you might see any day in 
 some Tuscan village. The people are indeed very 
 plainly of the peasant class, and the artist did not 
 go far out of his way to find his figures. Perhaps 
 he thought this was after all the best way to show 
 that the Holy Family was not unlike other families 
 in enjoying the simple pleasures of home life. We 
 may feel a closer sense of kinship with them on that 
 account. 
 
 In studying the artistic qualities of this picture 
 we have to remember that Michelangelo was more 
 of a sculptor than a painter, and that he went to 
 work upon a painting with the same methods he 
 used in marble. The central figures are grouped in 
 a solid mass as if for a bas-relief, as we may see by 
 comparing this illustration with that of the Madonna 
 and Child. The mother's arms are so " modelled," 
 to use a critical term, that they seem to start out 
 from the canvas " in the round," just as if cut from 
 marble. The folds of her dress, as well as those of 
 Joseph's garment, are arranged in the long beauti- 
 ful lines artists call " sculpturesque." 
 
 The sculptor's methods are also plainly seen in 
 the peculiarity of his background. In a picture of 
 this kind most painters would have painted there a 
 landscape, but Michelangelo did nothing of the 
 kind. Instead there is a semicircular parapet upon 
 which five slender unclothed youths are playing 
 together. Three sit upon the wall and two lean 
 against it. 
 
 The figures bear no relation to the story of the 
 
30 MICHELANGELO 
 
 picture. They are introduced merely for the sake 
 of decoration. To Michelangelo there was nothing 
 so beautiful in decoration as the human form. The 
 lines made by different positions of the body trace 
 patterns more beautiful, he thought, than any ara- 
 besques. The Greeks had the same idea when they 
 decorated the pediments of their temples with bas- 
 reliefs of nude figures. Applying this principle of 
 sculpture to his painting, Michelangelo arranged 
 these boys so that their slender limbs intertwine in 
 graceful patterns, making a decorative background 
 to fill in the picture. The lightness and delicacy 
 of the design heighten the effect of solidity in the 
 figures of the foreground, giving them the promi- 
 nence of figures in relief . 
 
VI 
 
 THE PIETl 
 
 In the busy years of Christ's ministry we do not 
 read of his often being with his mother Mary. He 
 was going about the country preaching and healing, 
 and gave himself wholly to his mission. Yet we 
 know that the love between mother and son was 
 constant and unchanging. From beginning to end 
 she always had confidence in his power, and his 
 tender care for her was among his last thoughts. 
 
 On the dreadful day of the Crucifixion, the mother 
 was found standing by the cross, with her sister and 
 Mary Magdalene. " When Jesus therefore saw his 
 mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved 
 [that is, St. John], he saith unto his mother, Wo- 
 man, behold thy son ! Then saith he to the dis- 
 ciple, Behold thy mother ! And from that hour 
 that disciple took her unto his own home." * 
 
 We can imagine the mother's anguish in seeing 
 her son suffer this cruel and ignominious death. 
 He had lived only to do good, and now he was dying 
 an innocent sacrifice to his enemies. At such a 
 moment the mother might truly feel that a sword 
 was piercing her soul, as the old man Simeon 2 had 
 once prophesied of her, many years before. 
 
 1 John, chapter xix. verses 26, 27. 2 Luke, chapter ii. verse 35. 
 
32 MICHELANGELO 
 
 " Wearied was her heart with grieving, 
 Worn her breast with sorrow heaving, 
 Through her soul the sword had passed. 
 
 " Ah ! how sad and broken-hearted 
 Was that blessed mother, parted 
 From the God-begotten One ! 
 
 " How her loving heart did languish 
 When she saw the mortal anguish 
 Which o'erwhelmed her peerless Son." 1 
 
 Time passed, and Jesus now being dead, his 
 friends were permitted by the governor to remove 
 him from the cross. Joseph of Arimathea took the 
 lead, as he was to lay the body in a new sepulchre 
 recently made in his garden. Nicodemus was also 
 there, bringing linen and spices for the burial, and 
 the loving women lingered to see these preparations. 
 
 We can imagine how they might all stand aside to 
 make room for the mother Mary. Perhaps, indeed, 
 they would withdraw a little way to leave her for a 
 moment alone with her son. The years seem to 
 melt away, and again she gathers him in her lap as 
 when he was a babe. All the motherly tenderness 
 which she has had long pent up in her heart now 
 overflows. If she has sometimes felt a little lonely 
 that in his manhood he no longer needed her care, 
 she forgets it now. He is still her child. 
 
 The marble group by Michelangelo interprets 
 such a moment for us. The Italians call the subject 
 the Pieta, which means compassion, but the name 
 scarcely expresses all the emotions of the mother. 
 
 1 From Stabat Mater. 
 
THE PIETA 35 
 
 She seems as strong and young as when she brooded 
 over her babe in the Bethlehem manger. " Purity 
 enjoys eternal youth " was the sculptor's explanation 
 to those who objected. 
 
 Across her capacious, motherly lap lies the slen- 
 der, youthful figure of the dead Christ. The head 
 falls back, and the limbs are relaxed in death. Suf- 
 fering has left no trace on his face. The nail prints 
 in hands and feet, and the scar in the side, are the 
 only signs of his crucifixion. The delicately moulded 
 body is beautiful in repose. 
 
 The mother seems to find mysterious comfort in 
 gazing upon her son. Perhaps his death has opened 
 her eyes to the meaning of his life. If this is so, 
 she cannot grieve. He has finished the work given 
 him to do, and death is the beginning of immor- 
 tality. So sorrow gives place to resignation. She 
 is again the proud mother. The fond hopes with 
 which she watched his childhood have been more 
 than fulfilled. She extends her hand in a gesture 
 which seems to say, "Behold and see." 
 
 It is said that certain Lombards, passing through 
 the church where the Pieta stood, ascribed the work 
 to a Milanese sculptor named Cristoforo Solari. 
 Michelangelo, having overheard them, shut himself 
 up in the chapel, and chiselled his name upon the 
 girdle which crosses the Madonna's breast and sup- 
 ports her flowing garments. His name is not found 
 on any of his other works, and we can understand 
 why he felt proud of such a masterpiece. Though 
 made when on the very threshold of his career, it 
 
36 MICHELANGELO 
 
 was never surpassed even in his later years. Some 
 other artist afterwards designed the two little bronze 
 cherubs who hold a crown over the Madonna's head. 
 They are quite out of harmony with the impressive 
 dignity of the figures below. 
 
 Michelangelo's early love of Greek sculpture 
 taught him many lessons, which were worked out in 
 this group. It has, first of all, that perfect repose 
 which was the leading trait in classic art. There is 
 nothing strained or violent in the positions. Besides 
 this, the figures are so arranged that on all sides, as 
 in a Greek statue, the lines are beautiful and har- 
 monious. 
 
 But the subject itself is one which would have 
 been too sad for the pleasure-loving Greek. To the 
 pagan the thought of death was something to be 
 avoided. Michelangelo's statue teaches the highest 
 lesson of religious faith, — the beauty of resigned 
 sorrow and the sublimity of sacrificing love. 
 
VII 
 
 CHRIST TRIUMPHANT 
 
 {Cristo Risorto) 
 
 The character of Christ is so many-sided that 
 when trying to fancy how he looked while he lived 
 in the world, every one has probably a different 
 thought uppermost. The business man and the 
 lawyer may imagine the keen, searching glance 
 which he turned upon those who tried to entangle 
 him with hard questions. A loving woman thinks 
 rather of the compassionate look with which he 
 greeted the sisters of Lazarus when they came to 
 tell him that their brother was dead. The physician 
 may wonder how he looked when he spoke the com- 
 manding words to those whom he healed. 
 
 Others dwell upon his sufferings as the Man of 
 Sorrows, and often think how sad he looked when 
 he referred to the disciple who should betray him. 
 Lovers of nature like to imagine the look of pleasure 
 on his face in seeing the lilies growing in the field, 
 or the expression of eager inquiry with which he 
 asked the fishermen what luck they had had. Every 
 boy and girl likes best to think of him smiling upon 
 the children, whom he called to him and took in 
 his arms. 
 
 Now when an artist makes an ideal representation 
 
38 MICHELANGELO 
 
 of Christ, he tries to show us as many as possible 
 of these elements of character combined in one 
 figure. So we may test the success of Michelan- 
 gelo's statue of Christ by searching out these vari- 
 ous elements in it. We must also know what inci- 
 dent the artist had in mind of which the work is an 
 illustration, so to speak. 
 
 The statue is called in Italian Cristo Risorto, 
 that is, Christ Risen or Triumphant, because the 
 reference is to a circumstance not recorded of his 
 earthly career, but belonging to the time following 
 his resurrection. It is connected with a story told 
 by St. Ambrose about the apostle Peter. St. Peter, 
 it is believed, spent the latter part of his life in 
 Rome, where the cruel emperor, Nero, was doing 
 his best to exterminate the Christians. 
 
 " After the burning of Rome, Nero threw upon 
 the Christians the accusation of having fired the 
 city. This was the origin of the first persecution, 
 in which many perished by terrible and hitherto un- 
 heard-of deaths. The Christian converts besought 
 Peter not to expose his life, which was dear and 
 necessary to the well-being of all ; and at length he 
 consented to depart from Rome. But as he fled 
 along the Appian Way, about two miles from the 
 gates, he was met by a vision of our Saviour, travel- 
 ling towards the city. Struck with amazement, he 
 exclaimed, ' Lord ! whither goest thou ? . (JDomine, 
 quo vadis ?) to which the Saviour, looking upon 
 him with a mild sadness, replied, ' I go to Rome to 
 be crucified a second time/ and vanished. Peter, 
 
HBFNHHI 
 
 
 ^^^9£ 1 i / I 
 
 
 
 §liiiliBiiii8iisl&P *'*S 
 
 John Andrew & Son, 8c. 
 
 CHRIST TRIUMPHANT 
 Church of S. Maria sopra Minerva, Rome 
 
CHRIST TRIUMPHANT 41 
 
 taking this for a sign that he was to submit himself 
 to the sufferings prepared for him, immediately 
 turned back, and reentered the city." * 
 
 It is this visionary figure of the Christ, appear- 
 ing and disappearing before the eyes of Peter, that 
 Michelangelo represents in the statue. He carries 
 a cross not large enough for an actual crucifixion, 
 as that would be out of place here, but tall enough 
 to show its real purpose. He has also the long reed 
 and the sponge which the soldier used to give him 
 a drink of vinegar and gall when he thirsted on the 
 cross. A bit of rope is a reminder of the scourging 
 given him by the governor. 
 
 All these things he carries with him to Rome for 
 a fresh martyrdom. It is as if in walking along the 
 way he suddenly meets Peter, and, at the apostle's 
 astonished question, he pauses, leaning a moment 
 on the cross, as he turns gently to reply. 
 
 Now as this is the Christ risen, or triumphant, 
 the Christ who has conquered death and the grave, 
 Michelangelo wanted to do all he could to make a 
 noble-looking figure. The face is of the handsome 
 type, with regular features, which the Italians like 
 to give to their ideal of Christ. The expression of 
 reproach is so gentle that one deserving rebuke may 
 well feel ashamed before it. 
 
 The sorrow in the face is such as Jesus might 
 nave shown as he turned to Judas at the Last Sup- 
 per. The gentleness in it is of the quality so at- 
 tractive to children. There is, too, something of the 
 
 1 From Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art, pages 200, 201. 
 
42 MICHELANGELO 
 
 sympathetic element in it which Mary and Martha 
 found. 
 
 The countenance is not without intellectuality, 
 though it scarcely shows the keenness which the 
 lawyers found it hard to outwit. It has rather the 
 refinement of a lover of all that is beautiful. Nor 
 is there much in expression or attitude to suggest 
 the more commanding qualities of Jesus. These 
 stronger elements the statue seems to lack. 
 
 It is rather puzzling to one who is trying to form 
 standards of taste to learn that critics are divided in 
 their opinion about this statue. It is, therefore, 
 well to know that Michelangelo is not wholly respon- 
 sible for the work as we now see it. Though he 
 designed and began it, he left it to some unskilful 
 apprentices to finish. The effect of the lines is in- 
 jured by the bronze drapery which was added later. 
 A bronze sandal has also been put on the right foot 
 to protect it, as it had become much worn by kisses. 
 
 In criticising a statue one must always remember 
 that it is best seen in the surroundings for which it 
 is designed. It is said, even by one who does not 
 greatly admire Michelangelo's Christ, that in the 
 dim light of the church where it stands, " it diffuses 
 a grace and sweetness which no reproduction ren- 
 ders." 1 
 
 1 Symonds, in Life of Michelangelo Buonarotti. 
 
VIII 
 
 THE CREATION OF MAN 
 
 Science has long been trying to solve the problem 
 of the origin of the human race. Great books are 
 published by learned men to explain how the being 
 called man came to be what he is. But centuries 
 before the beginnings of science a wonderful poem 
 was written on the same subject of the creation. 
 This poem is called Genesis, that is, the Birth or 
 Origin of things, and it forms a part of the first 
 book of our Bible. Ever since it was written it has 
 been one of the sacred books of many people. 
 
 This story of creation was once the favorite 
 subject of artists. In the period before the inven- 
 tion of printing, people depended for their in- 
 struction upon pictures about as much as we now 
 do upon books. Painters sometimes covered the 
 walls and ceiling of churches with illustrations of 
 the book of Genesis, transforming them into huge 
 picture-books, from which the worshippers could 
 learn the Bible stories which they were unable to 
 read in books. 
 
 Michelangelo was one of the last Italian painters 
 to do this, and he profited by all the work that had 
 been done before to make the grandest series of 
 Genesis illustrations ever produced. It is from this 
 
44 MICHELANGELO 
 
 series that our illustration is taken, representing the 
 subject of the Creation of Man. The painter did 
 not try to follow the text very literally. In the 
 book of Genesis we read : 1 — 
 
 " And God said, Let us make man in our image, 
 after our likeness : and let them have dominion over 
 the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and 
 over the cattle, and over all the earth, and ovei 
 every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 
 
 " So God created man in his own image, in the 
 image of God created he him. . . . And the Lord 
 God formed man of the dust of the ground, and 
 breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and 
 man became a living soul." 
 
 Michelangelo takes these words, and expresses, in 
 his own way, the supreme creative moment when 
 " man became a living soul." 
 
 The man Adam lies on a jutting promontory of 
 the newly made land. Though his body is formed, 
 he lacks as yet the inner force to use it ; he is not 
 yet alive. The Creator is borne along on a swirling 
 cloud of cherubs, moving forward through space 
 like a rushing mighty wind. Perhaps the painter 
 was thinking of the psalmist's beautiful description 
 of God's coming : 2 " He rode upon a cherub, and 
 did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the 
 wind." 
 
 In His fatherly face is expressed the good pur- 
 pose to create a son "in his own image." The 
 
 1 Genesis, chapter i. verses 26-27 ; chapter ii. verse 7. 
 
 2 Psalm xviii. verse 10. 
 
THE CREATION OF MAN 47 
 
 cherubic host accompanying him are full of joy and 
 
 awe. We are reminded of that time of which the 
 
 poet Milton wrote/ when 
 
 "All 
 The multitude of angels, with a shout 
 Loud as from numbers without number, sweet 
 As from blest voices, uttering joy, — Heaven rung 
 With jubilee, and loud hosannas filled 
 The eternal regions." 
 
 The sign of the Almighty's creative power is the 
 outstretched arm extended towards Adam with a 
 superb gesture of command. As if in answer to 
 the divine summons, the lifeless figure begins to 
 stir, rising slowly to a sitting posture. The face 
 turns towards the source of life as the flower turns 
 to the sun. The eyes are lifted to the Creator's 
 with a wistful yearning. It is the look we some- 
 times see in the eyes of a woodland creature appeal- 
 ing for mercy. It is such a look as might belong 
 to that imaginary being of the Greek mythology, 
 the faun, half beast, half human. Thus Adam, still 
 but half created, begins to feel the thrill of life 
 in his members, and is aroused to action. He lifts 
 his hand to meet the Creator's outstretched finger. 
 The current of life is established, the vital spark is 
 communicated, and in another moment Adam will 
 rise in his full dignity as a human soul. 
 
 This picture was painted long before there was 
 any knowledge of electricity, of electric sparks, and 
 electric currents. Yet, if we did not know other- 
 wise, we might fancy that Michelangelo had some 
 
 1 Paradise Lost, book ill. lines 344-349. 
 
48 MICHELANGELO 
 
 of these wonderful ideas of modern science in mind, 
 as the symbols of the great thoughts he was trying 
 to express. 
 
 The picture suggests to our latter day scientific 
 imagination that God's currents of power move as 
 silently, as swiftly, as invisibly and mysteriously as 
 the currents of electricity. The painter meant to 
 show that the work of creation was not a mechanical 
 effort of the Almighty, but that with him a gesture, 
 a word, even a thought, brings something into, 
 being. 
 
 The series of which this picture forms a part is 
 painted in fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine 
 Chapel, in the Pope's palace of the Vatican, Rome. 
 To break up the monotony of the long plain surface 
 he had to decorate, the painter divided the strip of 
 space in the centre into nine compartments. These 
 are separated from each other by a painted architec- 
 tural framework, so cunningly represented that it 
 seems to project from the ceiling like a solid struc- 
 ture of beams. 
 
 Our illustration shows a portion of the simulated 
 framework which incloses the picture. On what 
 appears to be a pedestal at each corner is a seated 
 figure representing a statue. One is a beautiful 
 youth with a horn of plenty, and the other is a 
 faun-like creature capering gayly. The purpose of 
 these figures is decorative, like those in the back- 
 ground of the Holy Family. 
 
IX 
 
 JEREMIAH 
 
 Michelangelo's decoration of the Sistine Chapel 
 ceiling did not stop with the series of panels run- 
 ning along the flat space in the centre. On either 
 side, where the ceiling arches to meet the side walls, 
 he painted a row of figures, which seem to be seated 
 in sculptured niches. There are twelve of these 
 figures in all, and seven of them are Hebrew pro- 
 phets. 
 
 The prophets were holy men of old, who walked 
 with God, and carried his messages among men. 
 They were men of great courage and conviction, 
 fearlessly denouncing the sins of their times. Some- 
 times they were great reformers, bringing about by 
 their preaching an improved condition of things. 
 Often their mission was to arouse hope in discour- 
 agement, to strengthen faith in a happier time to 
 come. They looked forward to a future day, when 
 the Prince of Peace should reign in the earth. 
 
 Jeremiah was a prophet of Judah during the cor- 
 rupt and troublous times in the reigns of Josiah, 
 Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah. He has been compared 
 by a recent writer 1 to " a Puritan living in the age 
 of the Stuarts, to a Huguenot living in the age of 
 
 1 Lyman Abbott in Hebrew Prophets and American Problems. 
 
50 MICHELANGELO 
 
 the Medici, or a Savonarola living in the age of 
 Pope Alexander VI." He was born in Anathoth, 
 a little village of Judaea, and being the son of a 
 priest was consecrated to the priesthood from birth. 
 
 He was still very young when it was borne in 
 upon him that to be loyal to God he must stand 
 forth and speak the truth more boldly than other 
 priests were doing. Shrinking from such a task, 
 he besought God to spare him. " Ah, Lord God ! 
 behold, I cannot speak : for I am a child." 
 
 And this, writes Jeremiah, is the answer he re- 
 ceived : * " Say not, I am a child : for thou shalt 
 go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I 
 command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of 
 their faces : for I am with thee to deliver thee ? 
 saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand, 
 and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto 
 me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. 
 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and 
 over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, 
 and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to 
 plant." 
 
 Thus Jeremiah became a prophet, and from that 
 time on his life was "one long, hopeless protest 
 against folly and crime." Earnestly he besought 
 his people to return to God before it was too late: 
 " Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, 
 that thou mayest be saved ; " 2 but prayers and 
 threats were alike of no avail, and misfortunes be- 
 gan to afflict the land. Then Jeremiah shows 
 
 1 Jeremiah, chapter i. verses 6-10. 2 Ibid., ch. iv. v. 14. 
 
John Andrew 4 Son, 8c. 
 
 JEREMIAH 
 
 Sis tine Chapel, Rome 
 
JEREMIAH 53 
 
 himself a true patriot. Though his people refused 
 to hear him, he still loves them and pleads their 
 cause. In the horror of famine, he prays to God 
 in their behalf. 
 
 There are times even in the midst of disappoint- 
 ment when Jeremiah has some gleam of hope for 
 the future. He predicts the days when " a King 
 shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment 
 and justice in the earth." 1 Such times he himself 
 was never to enjoy. He lived to see the Babylonian 
 invasion, Jerusalem besieged and laid waste, and his 
 people taken captive. The reward of his faithful 
 warnings was to be cast into prison by the ungrate- 
 ful King Zedekiah. Finally he was carried by the 
 remnant of his people into Egypt, where he died in 
 a sad and lonely old age. 
 
 Once in a moment of discouragement early in 
 life, his grief had burst forth in words which might 
 well express the feelings of his old age : " Oh 
 that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain 
 of tears, that I might weep day and night for the 
 slain of the daughter of my people ! " 2 
 
 All the pathos of these words is conveyed in 
 Michelangelo's wonderful figure of Jeremiah. The 
 story of his life is written in his face and attitude. 
 He is an old man, with long gray beard, but he still 
 has the splendid vigor which comes from plain and 
 simple living. He sits with bowed head, lost in 
 thought, his long life passing in review before his 
 
 1 Jeremiah, chapter xxiii. verse 5. 
 
 2 Jeremiah, chapter ix. verse 1. 
 
54 MICHELANGELO 
 
 mind's eye. His message is spoken, his race is run ; 
 he is weary of life and longs to die. There is some- 
 thing inexpressibly moving in his profound melan- 
 choly. 
 
 The painter has placed just behind the prophet 
 two little figures which are like attendant spirits. 
 They seem to sympathize with Jeremiah's sorrows. 
 The figures ornamenting the sculptured niche re- 
 mind us of those in the background of the Holy 
 Family and have a similar decorative purpose. 
 
 Those who have studied the history of the times 
 in which Michelangelo lived may find in this figure 
 of Jeremiah an expression of the artist's own char- 
 acter. Like the old Hebrew prophet, he lived in 
 the midst of a corruption which he was helpless to 
 remedy, and which saddened his inmost soul. His 
 own life was full of disappointments. In his lonely 
 old age he wrote a sonnet, which is not unlike some 
 of Jeremiah's utterances, and which is a clue to the 
 meaning of the picture : — 
 
 " Borne to the utmost brink of life's dark sea, 
 Too late thy joys I understand, O earth ! 
 How thou dost promise peace which cannot be, 
 And that repose which ever dies at birth. 
 The retrospect of life through many a day, 
 Now to its close attained by Heaven's decree, 
 Brings forth from memory, in sad arr^y, 
 Only old errors, fain forgot by me, — 
 Errors which e'en, if long life's erring day, 
 To soul destruction would have led my way. 
 For this I know — the greatest bliss on high 
 Belongs to him called earliest to die." 
 
DANIEL 
 
 In striking contrast to the bowed and sorrowful 
 old prophet Jeremiah is the alert and eager youth 
 Daniel. The two men were contemporaries, though 
 there was a difference in their ages. When, in the 
 reign of Jehoiakim, the Jews were taken into captiv- 
 ity to Babylon, the youth Daniel went with them, while 
 the old prophet Jeremiah was left behind. Daniel 
 was chosen, with three companions, to be educated 
 at the court of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnez- 
 zar. They were taught the Chaldean language and 
 the sciences, and the king was delighted with their 
 progress. 
 
 An opportunity soon came for Daniel to be of 
 service to his royal patron. Nebuchadnezzar had a 
 strange dream, which none of his magicians could 
 interpret, because, unfortunately, he had forgotten 
 it. In his anger that no one could supply the lost 
 memory, he commanded to destroy all the wise men 
 of Babylon. But Daniel prayed to God that the 
 secret might be revealed to him. 
 
 His prayers were answered, and he related to the 
 king not only just what the dream was, but the full 
 meaning of it : * " Thou, king, sawest, and behold 
 
 1 Daniel, chapter ii. verses 31-35. 
 
56 MICHELANGELO 
 
 a great image. This great image, whose brightness 
 was excellent, stood before thee; and the form 
 thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine 
 gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and 
 his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of 
 iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone 
 was cut out without hands, which smote the image 
 upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake 
 them to pieces. . . . And the stone that smote the 
 image became a great mountain, and filled the whole 
 earth." 
 
 In Daniel's interpretation the different portions 
 of the image represented the different kingdoms 
 which should follow, one after another, in the 
 future. The stone which brake the image in pieces 
 referred to the final kingdom which the God of 
 heaven shall set up, "which shall never be de- 
 stroyed," but which shall stand forever. 
 
 From this time forth Daniel became a seer. He 
 had many wonderful visions in the night, and inter- 
 preted them with reference to future historical 
 events. He was also a statesman, the king having 
 made him governor of the province as a reward for 
 his services. In later years he acted as viceroy at a 
 time when the king was insane. 
 
 In the reign of Nebuchadnezzar's successor, Bel- 
 shazzar, Daniel was again called into service as a 
 seer. One night, during a great feast, a mysterious 
 hand appeared to write some inscription on the wall, 
 and Daniel alone could interpret it. The message 
 was ominous, but the prophet spoke out boldly. 
 
Alinari, Photo, 
 
 John Andrew & Son, 8c. 
 
 DANIEL 
 
 Sistine Chapel, Rome 
 
DANIEL 59 
 
 "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin, ran the words, 
 " Thou art weighed in the balances and art found 
 wanting." Daniel condemned the king for his in- 
 iquities, and declared that his kingdom should be 
 divided by the Medes and Persians. That very 
 night Belshazzar was slain, and Darius, the Median, 
 took the kingdom. 
 
 Under the new dynasty Daniel was given so much 
 power that some of the officials, jealous of his pre- 
 ferment, plotted against him. They contrived to 
 persuade King Darius to sign a decree that " who- 
 soever should ask a petition of any god or man for 
 thirty days, save of the king himself, should be cast 
 into the den of lions." The officials were right in 
 supposing that this would entrap Daniel into law- 
 breaking, for, faithful to his Hebrew training, he 
 offered prayer to God three times a day. He was 
 therefore cast into the lions' den, but no harm befell 
 him, because, according to his own explanation, God 
 sent his angel to shut the lions' mouths. 
 
 Daniel continued to hold office even in the reign 
 of the next king, Cyrus the Persian. He lived to a 
 great old age, but he was so young when he first 
 showed his prophetic gifts that it is natural to think 
 of him in his youth as Michelangelo has represented 
 him. It would seem that the artist had in mind 
 Daniel's early years of education at court. On his 
 lap is a large open book supported on the back of a 
 tiny figure standing between his knees. This may 
 represent a volume of Chaldean learning. His pos- 
 ture shows that he has been consulting the volume, 
 
60 MICHELANGELO 
 
 and now turns to his writing tablets to record his 
 own thoughts. 
 
 His broad forehead shows him to be a student 
 and a thinker. The waving hair is brushed back 
 to form an aureole about his face. It is the face of 
 a dreamer in a moment of inspiration. Eagerly he 
 writes his words of mingled poetry and prophecy. 
 He is full of youthful enthusiasm for his work, a 
 nature fitted for action as well as for vision. He 
 has also the spirited bearing of one who fears 
 neither the rage of a lion nor the wrath of a king. 
 There is a breezy energy in his motions, as if 
 thoughts came more swiftly than he could tran- 
 scribe them. 
 
 His expression of happy anticipation is in vivid 
 contrast to Jeremiah's sorrowful attitude of retro- 
 spection. The picture brings out clearly the fact 
 that the keynote of Daniel's prophecy is hope. 
 Looking into his rapt face, we may imagine that 
 this is the message he is writing : " They that be 
 wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; 
 and they that turn many to righteousness, as the 
 stars forever and ever." 1 
 
 1 Daniel, chapter xii. verse 3. 
 
XI 
 
 THE DELPHIC SIBYL 
 
 In the rows of figures which Michelangelo painted 
 along the arched portion of the ceiling of the Sis- 
 tine Chapel, the prophets are associated with sibyls. 
 Hence, in the plan of decoration, there comes first 
 the figure of a man, and then the figure of a 
 
 woman 
 
 Now, as the Bible contains no allusion to sibyls, 
 it may seem strange that they should have a place 
 in a series of Bible illustrations, and especially that 
 they should appear side by side with the prophets. 
 To explain this, we must learn something about the 
 sibyls. 
 
 They were women of ancient times supposed to 
 have supernatural gifts of foretelling the future. 
 They devoted themselves to solitude and meditation, 
 and sometimes lived apart in caves or grottoes. 
 Sometimes they were connected with temples, and 
 delivered what were supposed to be the messages of 
 the gods to the worshippers. These messages were 
 called oracles, and were greatly revered by the peo- 
 ple who consulted the gods. 
 
 Some of the sibyls' words of wisdom were com- 
 mitted to writing and passed down to following 
 generations. Though they lived in heathen coun- 
 
62 MICHELANGELO 
 
 tries, the tradition ran that they prophesied the 
 advent of Christ. There is a passage in one of 
 Virgil's eclogues (the fourth) upon which the sup- 
 position is based. Early in the Christian era, when 
 men were spreading the new faith, they made much 
 of these sibylline prophecies to add weight to their 
 teachings. 
 
 In former times, fact and fable were very often 
 confused, and people did not take pains to distin- 
 guish the legends of the sibyls from the history of 
 the prophets. When the Latin hymn " Dies Irae " 
 was written, the sibyl was mentioned, with the 
 prophet, as predicting the final destruction of the 
 world. Many painters and sculptors gave the two 
 equal honor in the same way. In the prevailing 
 opinion, the sibyls shared with the prophets an in- 
 spired foreknowledge of the Christian faith. 
 
 The nine main panels of Michelangelo's ceiling 
 decoration show how man was created, and how 
 he was tempted and fell into sin. To carry on still 
 further the story of the human race, the painter 
 shows the succession of men and women, prophets 
 and sibyls, who, one after another, predicted the 
 redemption of the world in Christ. On the side 
 walls, below these figures, the story is carried to 
 completion in a series of pictures illustrating the 
 life of Christ. The last named frescoes were painted 
 by various artists some years before Michelangelo's 
 work on the ceiling. 
 
 The number of sibyls was given as ten or twelve, 
 and of these Michelangelo selected five. His idea 
 
John Andrew & Son, So. 
 
 THE DELPHIC SIBYL 
 Sistine Chapel, Rome 
 
THE DELPHIC SIBYL 65 
 
 here, as with the prophets, seemed to be to represent 
 some in old age and some in youth. 
 
 The Delphic sibyl is the youngest and most beau- 
 tiful of them all. She presided over the temple of 
 Apollo in the Greek town of Delphi, where it was 
 long customary for the priestess, or pythia, as she 
 was called, to be a young woman selected from some 
 family of poor country people. 
 
 The temple at Delphi was one of great celebrity. 
 In the centre was a small opening in the ground, 
 whence arose an intoxicating vapor, and over this 
 sat the pythia, on a three-legged seat, or tripod, and 
 delivered the oracle communicated to her by the 
 god. These oracles were delivered in verse. 
 
 The Delphic sibyl, or pythia, of Michelangelo's 
 picture, has the splendid stature of an Amazon. 
 Her head is draped with a sort of Greek turban, 
 beneath which her hair escapes in flying curls. Her 
 face and expression show her at once to be unlike 
 an ordinary woman. She has the look of a startled 
 fawn, which has suddenly heard the call of a distant 
 voice. She turns her head in the attitude of one 
 listening. She looks far away with eyes that see 
 visions, but what those visions are none can guess. 
 There are other pictures of the same sibyl carrying 
 a crown of thorns, showing that she predicted the 
 sufferings of Christ. Perhaps this is the meaning 
 of the sorrowful expression in these wide eyes. 
 
 The scroll which she unrolls in her left hand is 
 the scroll of her prophecy. The two little figures 
 holding a book, just behind her right shoulder, are 
 
66 MICHELANGELO 
 
 genii, or spirits, symbolic of her inspiration. One 
 reads eagerly from the volume while the other lis- 
 tens with rapt attention. 
 
 The picture makes a very interesting study in the 
 composition of lines. Starting from the topmost 
 point of the turban, draw a line on the right, com- 
 ing across the shoulder along the outer edge of the 
 drapery to the toe. On the left, let the line con- 
 necting the same two points follow the outer curve 
 of the scroll, along the slanting edge of the mantle, 
 and we get a beautiful pointed oval as the basis of 
 the composition. 
 
 The sibyl's left arm drops a curve across the 
 upper part of the figure, and this curve is repeated 
 a little lower down by the creases in the drapery 
 across the lap. Such are the few strong, simple 
 lines which compose the picture, producing an effect 
 of grandeur which a confusion of many lines would 
 entirely spoil. 
 
XII 
 
 THE CUM^EAN SIBYL 
 
 Of all the sibyls, the one we hear most about is 
 the Cumsean. The legend runs that, having asked 
 a boon of Apollo, she gathered a handful of sand 
 and said, " Grant me to see as many birthdays as 
 there are sand grains in my hand." The wish was 
 gratified, but unluckily she forgot to ask for endur- 
 ing youth, so she was doomed to live a thousand 
 years in a withered old age. Thus we always think 
 of her as an old woman, as Michelangelo has repre- 
 sented her. 
 
 She is called the Cumsean sibyl because she is 
 supposed to have lived in Cumae, which was the 
 oldest and one of the most important of the Greek 
 colonies in Italy. Her real name, we are told, was 
 Demos. She lived in a great cavern, where the 
 people came to consult her, and her answers to their 
 questions were regarded as oracles, or answers from 
 the deities. She used to write on the leaves of trees 
 the names and fates of different persons, arranging 
 them in her cave to be read by her votaries. Some- 
 times the wind sweeping through the cavern scat- 
 tered the leaves broadcast through the world. 
 
 The manner of consulting her is fully described 
 by the Latin poet Virgil in the sixth book of the 
 
68 MICHELANGELO 
 
 iEneid. He tells how iEneas, arriving with his 
 fellow voyagers at the town of Cumse, immediately 
 goes to the temple of Apollo, 
 
 " And seeks the cave of wondrous size, 
 The sibyl's dread retreat, 
 The sibyl, whom the Delian seer 
 Inspires to see the future clear, 
 And fills with frenzy's heat ; 
 The grove they enter, and behold 
 Above their heads the roof of gold. 
 
 " Within the mountain's hollow side, 
 A cavern stretches high and wide ; 
 A hundred entries thither lead ; 
 A hundred voices thence proceed, 
 Each uttering forth the sibyl's rede. 
 The sacred threshold now they trod : 
 *Pray for an answer ! pray ! the god,' 
 She cries, ' the god is nigh ! ' 
 
 " And as before the door in view 
 She stands, her visage pales its hue, 
 Her locks dishevelled fly, 
 Her breath comes thick, her wild heart glows. 
 Dilating as the madness grows, 
 Her form looks larger to the eye ; 
 Unearthly peals her deep-toned cry, 
 As, breathing nearer and more near, 
 The god comes rushing on his seer." 
 
 iEneas now begs a favor of the sibyl. He has 
 heard that here the path leads downward to the 
 dead, and he desires to go thither to visit his father, 
 Anchises. There are certain conditions to fulfil 
 before setting forth, but when these are done the 
 sibyl guides him on his way, and the journey is 
 safely made. 
 
Alin»ri, Photo. 
 
 John Andrew & Son, He. 
 
 THE CUMiEAN SIBYL 
 Sistine Chapel, Rome 
 
THE CUM^AN SIBYL 71 
 
 Another legend of the Cumaean sibyl has to do 
 with the Roman emperor Tarquin. The sibyl came 
 to him one day with nine books of oracles, which 
 she wished him to buy. The price was exorbitant, 
 and the emperor refused her demand. She then 
 went away, burned three of the books, and, return- 
 ing with the remaining six, made the same demand. 
 Again her offer was refused, and again she burned 
 three books and returned, still requiring the original 
 price for the three that were left. Tarquin now 
 consulted the soothsayers, and, acting upon their 
 advice, bought the books, which were found to con- 
 tain directions concerning the religion and policy of 
 Rome. 
 
 For many years they were held sacred, and were 
 carefully preserved in the temple of Jupiter in the 
 Capitol, under the care of official guardians. At 
 length the temple was destroyed by fire, and the 
 original sibylline books perished. In the following 
 centuries they were replaced by scattered papers, 
 collected from time to time in various parts of the 
 empire, purporting to be the writings of the sibyl. 
 These sibylline leaves, as they were called, contained 
 passages supposed to be prophetic of the coming of 
 Christ, and this is why the Cumaean sibyl is placed 
 by Michelangelo among the prophets. 
 
 The sibyl is reading aloud from one of her books 
 of oracles. The two little genii standing behind 
 her shoulder, and listening with absorbed attention, 
 hold another book, not yet unclasped, ready for her. 
 She reads her prophecy with keen, searching eyes, 
 
72 MICHELANGELO 
 
 and a manner that is almost stern. We can see in 
 the large, strong features the determination of her 
 character. 
 
 It is not a gentle face, and not pleasing, but it is 
 full of meaning. We read there the record of the 
 centuries which have passed over her head, bringing 
 her the deep secrets of life. Yet the prophecies 
 are still unfulfilled, and there is a look of unsatisfied 
 longing in her wrinkled old face. 
 
 You will notice that the outlines of the Cumsean 
 sibyl are drawn in an oval figure similar to that 
 inclosing the Delphic sibyl. Here, however, the 
 oval is of a more elongated form, and the left side 
 is broken midway by the introduction of the book. 
 
 The old writer Pausanias, writing his "Descrip- 
 tion of Greece/' in the second century, says that the 
 people of Cumse showed a small stone urn in the 
 temple of Apollo containing the ashes of the sibyl. 
 For many centuries her cavern was pointed out to 
 travellers in a rock under the citadel of Cumse. 
 Finally the fortifications of the city were under- 
 mined, but to this day a subterranean passage in 
 the rock on which they were built is still shown as 
 the entrance to the sibyl's cave. 
 
XIII 
 
 LORENZO BE' MEDICI 
 
 The statue of Lorenzo de' Medici is the central 
 figure on the tomb erected to the memory of this 
 prince. He was the rather unworthy namesake of 
 his illustrious grandfather, who was known as 
 Lorenzo the Magnificent. The Medici family was 
 for many generations the richest and most powerful 
 in Florence. They were originally merchants, and, 
 as the name signifies, physicians, and, accumulating 
 great wealth, they became powerful leaders, and 
 really the rulers of the republic. 
 
 Some of them were munificent patrons of art and 
 literature. There was one named Cosimo, who did 
 so much to make his city famous that he was called 
 Pater Patriae, the father of the country, as was, 
 centuries afterwards, our own Washington. His 
 grandson Lorenzo won the title of the Magnificent 
 for his lavish generosity and superb plans for the 
 advancement of art and learning. So much power 
 could not safely be in the hands of a single family. 
 The Medici, from being benefactors, finally became 
 tyrants. 
 
 The Lorenzo of this statue was one of the more 
 insignificant members of the family. It is said that 
 " he inherited the vices without the genius of the 
 
74 MICHELANGELO 
 
 family, and was ambitious, unscrupulous, and dissi- 
 pated. His uncle, Pope Leo X., after depriving the 
 Duke of Urbino of his hereditary domains, bestowed 
 them, with the title of duke, on Lorenzo, whom he 
 also made general of the pontifical forces." 1 In 
 1518 Leo united him in marriage to a French prin- 
 cess, and their daughter was the afterwards cele- 
 brated Catharine de' Medici, queen of the French 
 king, Henry II. These are the main facts in the 
 life of a man who is remembered only because he 
 had illustrious ancestors, a famous daughter, and a 
 superb tomb. 
 
 It mattered nothing to Michelangelo that he had 
 so poor a subject for a statue. It is supposed that 
 he made no attempt at correct portraiture in the 
 figure. The insignificant Lorenzo was transformed 
 by the magic of his genius into a hero. 
 
 He wears a suit of Roman armor, in accordance 
 with his career as a general in the wars with the 
 Duke of Urbino, whose title he took. His helmet 
 is pulled well forward over the brow, the head is 
 bent, the cheek rests upon the left hand, the elbow 
 supported on a casket placed on the knee. With 
 finger laid thoughtfully upon the lips, he is thinking 
 intently. The right hand rests, palm out, against 
 the knee in a characteristic position of inaction. 
 
 His mood is not that of a dreamer lost to his pre- 
 sent surroundings. Rather he seems to be keenly 
 aware of what is going on ; his meditations have to 
 do with the present. It is as if, having given an 
 order, he awaits its execution, his mind still intent 
 
 1 Susan and Joanna Horner's Walks in Florence, vol. i. p. 125. 
 
Alinari, Photo. 
 
 John Andrew & Son, 8c. 
 
 LORENZO DE' MEDICI 
 Church of S. Lorenzo, Florence 
 
LORENZO DE' MEDICI 77 
 
 upon his purposes, satisfied with his decision, and 
 calmly expectant of its success. His affair is one of 
 serious importance; no trifling matter absorbs the 
 thought of this grave man. " A king sits in this at- 
 titude when, in the midst of his army, he orders the 
 execution of some judicial act, like the destruction 
 of a city. Frederic Barbarossa must have appeared 
 thus when he caused Milan to be ploughed up." 1 
 
 The lack of resemblance in the statue to the 
 original duke Lorenzo made it for a long time 
 doubful whether it was intended to be his tomb. 
 The Florentines, in their poetic way, fell into the 
 habit of calling it II Pensiero, that is, Thought, or 
 Meditation, sometimes II Pensieroso, The Thinker. 
 These are, after all, the best names for the statue, 
 which is allegorical rather than historical in its in- 
 tention. The great English poet Milton has writ- 
 ten a poem, which is like a companion piece to the 
 statue, fitting it as words sometimes fit music. It 
 begins in this way, in words which II Pensieroso 
 himself might speak : — 
 
 " Hence, vain deluding Joys, 
 The brood of Folly, without father bred ! 
 How little you bested, 
 Or fill the fixed mind with all your toys ! 
 Dwell in some idle brain, 
 And fancies fond with gaudy shape possess, 
 As thick and numberless 
 As the gay motes that people the sunbeams, 
 Or likest hovering dreams, 
 The fickle pensioners of Morpheus' train. 
 But hail ! thou Goddess sage and holy, 
 Hail, divinest Melancholy ! " 
 
 1 Taine, Travels in Italy. 
 
78 MICHELANGELO 
 
 Lorenzo's statue stands in a niche above the sar- 
 cophagus, or stone coffin, in which his body was 
 laid. On the top of the sarcophagus are two reclin- 
 ing figures called Dawn and Twilight. The tomb 
 itself is in a chapel, or sacristy, called the New 
 Sacristy (to distinguish it from one still older), in 
 the Church of S. Lorenzo, Florence. The entire 
 sacristy is devoted to the memory of the Medici 
 family, who had for several generations been bene- 
 factors of this church. 
 
 Now Michelangelo had a great deal to do with 
 this family first and last, and his work on the tomb 
 has an additional interest on this account. It was 
 to Lorenzo the Magnificent that he owed his first 
 start as a sculptor in an academy founded by this 
 prince. He so pleased his patron that he was re- 
 ceived into the duke's own household, and treated 
 almost like a son. Years passed ; Lorenzo had long 
 been dead, when, one after another, two members of 
 the same family came to the papal throne, and they 
 desired to honor their name by employing the great- 
 est sculptor of Italy in this monumental work. 
 
 So Michelangelo began designs for the sacristy, 
 the entire decoration of which was intrusted to him. 
 The walls of the rooms were panelled with marble, 
 set with niches, in the form of windows, in which 
 the statues were to be placed. 
 
 As the work proceeded, it was interrupted by 
 some strange incidents, of which we shall hear later. 
 The whole plan was never fully carried out, but in 
 spite of incompleteness the chapel is a grand and 
 impressive place. 
 
XIV 
 
 THE TOMB OF GIULIANO Db' MEDICI 
 
 The tomb of Giuliano de' Medici is the companion 
 to the tomb of Lorenzo, and stands on the opposite 
 side of the altar which separates them. Our illus- 
 tration shows the entire work, the statue being in 
 the niche above, and the sarcophagus standing below 
 with two reclining figures on it. 
 
 Giuliano de' Medici, duke of Nemours, was the 
 youngest son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and con- 
 sequently the uncle of the younger Lorenzo. In 
 reality he was greatly superior to his nephew, but 
 curiously enough his appearance in Michelangelo's 
 statue is more commonplace, though his attitude is 
 graceful. He was a thoughtful man, somewhat 
 melancholy in disposition, and the author of a poem 
 on suicide. He wears the costume of a Roman 
 general, but his small head and slender throat are 
 not those of a warrior. 
 
 You will notice that the attitude of the duke 
 Giuliano is somewhat similar to that of Moses. 
 Both sit with left foot drawn back and right knee 
 extended. Both turn the head in profile, looking 
 intently toward the left. In either case it is easy to 
 imagine the figure suddenly springing up. 
 
 Now this fact emphasizes the difference we have 
 
80 MICHELANGELO 
 
 already noted between the sculpture of Michelangelo 
 and that of the Greeks. The leading idea in Greek 
 sculpture was that of repose, while, as we have seen 
 in the David and the Cupid, Michelangelo chose for 
 his figures a moment of action. To give this sug- 
 gestion of motion to a seated figure is even more 
 remarkable than in the case of one standing, for the 
 sitting posture naturally has an effect of stability. 
 
 The reclining figures on the sarcophagus of the 
 Duke Giuliano represent Night and Day, and are 
 supposed to be symbolic of death and resurrection. 
 Night is a woman lying with head sunk upon the 
 breast in a deep sleep. She is crowned with a cres- 
 cent moon and star, and an owl is placed at her feet. 
 The mask beneath her pillow symbolizes the body 
 from which the spirit has departed. Though the 
 figure is not beautiful in the Greek sense, it is grand 
 and queenly. Opposite is Day, an unfinished cap- 
 tive, his head half freed from the stone, the arms 
 rigid, the body contorted. 
 
 These two figures, together with Dawn and Twi- 
 light on Lorenzo's tomb, have an allegorical meaning 
 which must be read in the light of Michelangelo's 
 own life history. " Life is a dream between two 
 slumbers ; sleep is death's twin-brother ; night is the 
 shadow of death ; death is the gate of life — such 
 is the mysterious mythology wrought by the sculp- 
 tor." 1 
 
 The work on the Medicean tombs covered a period 
 of about twelve years. During this time the Medici 
 
 1 Symonds, in Renaissance in Italy : the Fine Arts. 
 
/ \ 
 
 Alinari, Photo. 
 
 John Andrew & Son, So. 
 
 TOMB OF GIULIANO DE' MEDICI 
 
 Church of S. Lorenzo, Florence 
 
THE TOMB OF GIULIANO DE' MEDICI 83 
 
 family passed through varying fortunes, and in con- 
 sequence the fate of the tombs, and indeed that of 
 the sculptor himself, hung in the balance. Florence 
 became weary of tyranny and rose in a revolution 
 which drove the Medici from the city in 1527. 
 
 Success was of short duration : the republic soon 
 "found herself standing out against a world of 
 foes," the Pope, Clement VII. (himself a Medici), 
 " threatening fire and flame," and all the Medici 
 family " getting ready to return in double force." 
 The Florentines prepared to fight for their liberty, 
 and Michelangelo was found among the patriots. 
 No sense of personal gratitude to the Medici could 
 shake his love of liberty. He forsook the monu- 
 ments and turned his skill to the fortification of the 
 city. 
 
 For eleven months Florence was besieged, and in 
 the end the city was captured. The Medici returned 
 conquerors. Mercenaries now broke into the houses, 
 killing the best citizens. Had not Michelangelo 
 been in hiding, he too would have perished. But 
 the Pope could not afford to lose his best sculptor, 
 and, calling him forth from his hiding-place, again 
 set him to work in the Medici chapel. It is not 
 strange that the sculptor's proud spirit rebelled at 
 having to work on that which was to honor the ene- 
 mies of his beloved Florence. 
 
 Thus it was that his sculpture told the story of 
 " the tragedy of Florence : how hope had departed, 
 how life had become a desert, and how it was hard 
 to struggle with waking consciousness, but good to 
 
84 MICHELANGELO 
 
 sleep and forget — nay, best of all, to be stone and 
 feel no more." 
 
 The old writer Vasari, who was once a pnpil of 
 Michelangelo, and tells us many anecdotes of the 
 sculptor, relates that when the statue of Night was 
 first shown to the public, it called forth a verse from 
 a contemporary poet (Giovan Battista Strozzi). 
 This is the verse : — 
 
 " Night in so sweet an attitude beheld 
 Asleep, was by an angel sculptured 
 In this stone; and sleeping, is alive; 
 Waken her, doubter; she will speak to thee." x 
 
 To this Michelangelo replied in the following 
 lines : 2 — 
 
 " Welcome is sleep, more welcome sleep of stone 
 Whilst crime and shame continue in the land; 
 My happy fortune not to see or hear; 
 Waken me not; — in mercy whisper low." 1 
 
 . . The artist's verse may be taken as a keynote to 
 t the solemn tragedy of the work. In fact, the monu- 
 ments are not really to Lorenzo and Giuliano, but 
 to Florence, to " the great city which had struggled 
 and erred so long, which had gone astray and re- 
 pented, and suffered and erred again, but always 
 mightily, with full tide of life in her veins and con- 
 sciousness in her heart, until now the time had come 
 when she was dead and past, chained down by icy 
 oppression in a living grave." 3 
 
 1 Both translations are from Homers' Walks in Florence. Sy 
 monds has also translated the verses, but less literally. 
 
 2 Swinburne in his lines, " In San Lorenzo," answers these linel r 
 "Is thine hour come to waken, slumbering Night?" 
 
 8 This and the preceding quotations are from Mrs. Oliphant' ' 
 Makers of Florence. 
 
XV 
 
 CENTRAL FIGURES IN THE LAST JUDGMENT 
 
 There are in the Bible certain references to a 
 great day when the Son of Man shall be seen " com- 
 ing in the clouds with great power and glory." 
 " And he shall send his angels with a great sound 
 of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his 
 elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven 
 to the other." 1 St. Paul, in a letter which he wrote 
 to the Christians in Corinth, speaks of this as a 
 " mystery," and says : 2 " We shall not all sleep, but 
 we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twin- 
 kling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet 
 shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorrupt- 
 ible, and we shall be changed." 
 
 In the Middle Ages these passages were interpreted 
 very literally and had a great influence over the 
 people. At that time the Christian religion was a 
 religion of fear rather than of love, and men were 
 continually picturing in their minds God's angry 
 separation of the good from the wicked. 
 
 How much such thoughts occupied them we may 
 see from Dante's great poem describing a vision of 
 
 1 Matthew, chapter xxiv. verse 31. 
 
 2 1 Corinthians, chapter xv. verses 51, 52. 
 
86 MICHELANGELO 
 
 the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. This was 
 written in the thirteenth century, and in the same 
 period appeared a short Latin lyric, or hymn, called 
 " Dies Irae," or the Day of Wrath, from an expres- 
 sion used hy the old Hebrew prophet Zephaniah. 
 The author was a Franciscan monk named Thomas 
 of Celano, and we may see how deeply he felt from 
 these verses : — 
 
 " Ah ! what terror is impending 
 When the Judge is seen descending, 
 And each secret veil is rending. 
 
 " To the throne, the trumpet sounding, 
 Through the sepulchres resounding, 
 Summons all, with voice astounding. 
 
 " Sits the Judge, the raised arraigning, 
 Darkest mysteries explaining, 
 Nothing unavenged remaining." 
 
 This vivid word picture forms the subject of many 
 great paintings by the older Italian masters, known 
 under the title of the Last Judgment. Michelan- 
 gelo's was one of the last of these, and in general 
 arrangement his composition resembles those of his 
 predecessors. 
 
 From the upper air a company of angels descends, 
 carrying a cross, a crown of thorns, and other instru- 
 ments of the Saviour's sufferings. Below them is 
 the Judge himself surrounded by the apostles and 
 other saints. Underneath are the archangels blow- 
 ing their trumpets. On earth, in the lowest part of 
 the picture at the left, the dead rise from their 
 graves and ascend through the air to the Judge. 
 
Photo. John Andrew & 
 
 CENTRAL FIGURES OF THE LAST JUDGMENT 
 Sistine Chapel, Rome 
 
CENTRAL FIGURES IN THE LAST JUDGMENT 89 
 
 At the right, opposite the ascending dead, are the 
 condemned sinners, descending to the boat which 
 will carry them over the river Styx into the Inferno. 
 
 Our illustration gives only the central figures in 
 this great multitude, the Divine Judge accompanied 
 by his mother. He is a man of mighty muscular 
 power, young and handsome, with an expression of 
 imperious dignity. Enthroned on the clouds, he 
 seems just rising from a sitting posture to execute 
 his judgments. He lifts his arms in a sweeping 
 motion as if to part the multitudes pressing upon 
 him on both sides. In so doing he shows the wound 
 in his right side made by the soldier's spear at the 
 crucifixion. Neither expression nor gesture mani- 
 fests anger ; those beautiful hands with delicately 
 extended fingers will strike no blow. The gesture 
 itself is a command. 
 
 Beneath Christ's upraised arm, on his right side, 
 sits his Mother Mary. Each must interpret for 
 himself her attitude and expression. Some think 
 that because she turns her face away she is shrink- 
 ing from her son in terror. Yet her expression is so 
 gentle that others say she is nestling close to him 
 for protection. This is certainly as we should im- 
 agine the situation. When she was a young mother, 
 she was proud to take care of her child. And 
 now on this great day she is equally proud to let 
 him take care of her. As he clung to her, his 
 mother, so she now clings to him, the Judge. 
 
 Looking at the composition of the picture, we 
 see that her figure completes a pyramid, whose apex 
 
90 MICHELANGELO 
 
 is the uplifted hand of the Judge, and whose base 
 lies along the cloud supporting his feet and hers. 
 This gives proper stability to the figures which 
 dominate the whole great picture. Considered in 
 a larger way, the pyramid is itself the upper part 
 of a long oval which keeps the central group apart 
 from the surrounding host. 
 
 The picture of the Last Judgment was painted by 
 Michelangelo on the end wall of the Sistine Chapel, 
 over the altar, nearly twenty years after the com- 
 pletion of the ceiling frescoes. There is a great dif- 
 ference between the two works. The figures on the 
 ceiling are strong and powerful, their attitudes 
 spirited and graceful. Those in the Last Judgment 
 are huge and cumbersome, their attitudes strained 
 and violent. The entire effect of the vast company 
 of colossal figures is awe-inspiring, but not pleasing. 
 
 It is a relief to fix our eyes upon the central 
 portion. Here the painter expressed an idea at 
 once noble and original. The figure of the Christ 
 has not the delicate beauty of the dead Christ in 
 the Pieta, or the finished elegance of the Christ Tri- 
 umphant, but he has the splendid vigor of a force- 
 ful character. The Mother, less grand and noble 
 than in the bereavement of the Pieta, less proud 
 than in her young motherhood, is a gentle and 
 lovely creature. Thus the intensely masculine is 
 completed by the delicately feminine, and the artist 
 shows us ideal types of manhood and womanhood. 
 
XVI 
 
 PORTRAIT 
 
 In the pictures of this collection we have learned 
 something of the work of Michelangelo as a sculptor 
 and a painter. He was an artist whose personality 
 was so strongly impressed upon his work that we 
 have come thus to know, to> a certain extent, the 
 man himself. His, as we have seen, was not a 
 happy nature, and many of the circumstances of his 
 life conspired against his happiness. 
 
 In his early youth he seemed strangely aware of 
 his own superior gifts and was often so overbearing 
 that he made enemies. The story is told of a quar- 
 rel he had with a young man named Torrigiano, in 
 whose company he was copying some frescoes in a 
 church in Florence. Stung by some tormenting 
 words of Michelangelo, Torrigiano retaliated with a 
 blow of the fist, which crushed his companion's nose, 
 and disfigured him for life. 
 
 Michelangelo's real education began in the palace 
 of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who discovered the 
 lad's talent and made him a favorite. " He sat at 
 the same table with Ficino, Pico, and Poliziano, lis- 
 tening to dialogues on Plato, and drinking in the 
 golden poetry of Greece. Greek literature and 
 philosophy, expounded by the men who had discov- 
 
92 MICHELANGELO 
 
 ered them, first moulded his mind to those lofty- 
 thoughts which it became the task of his life to 
 express in form. At the same time he heard the 
 preaching of Savonarola. In the Duomo and the 
 cloister of S. Marco another portion of his soul was 
 touched, and he acquired that deep religious tone 
 which gives its majesty and terror to the Sistine." 1 
 In the gardens of S. Marco he had Lorenzo's fine 
 collection of antiquities to study, and learned from 
 them the secrets of Greek sculpture. 
 
 In all these opportunities it would seem that 
 Michelangelo was a most fortunate person. Nor 
 did he lack proper appreciation ; the Pieta placed 
 him at once on a pinnacle of fame, and the David 
 was heartily admired. 
 
 It was when he entered the service of the Pope 
 that his troubles began. He was never thereafter a 
 free man. His genius was at the disposition of a 
 series of men, each ambitious for his own fame, 
 and caring little for the artist's personal aspirations. 
 His proud nature was bitterly humiliated by this 
 sacrifice of his independence. Sometimes he openly 
 rebelled, but in the end was always obliged to yield 
 to papal authority. 
 
 Michelangelo's sternly upright spirit found also 
 much to sadden him in the corruption of the times. 
 He was a lover of righteousness as well as a lover 
 of liberty, and he greatly mourned the evils which 
 surrounded him. 
 
 One of the pleasantest traits in his character was 
 
 1 Symonds, in Renaissance in Italy : The Fine Arts. 
 
PORTRAIT 93 
 
 his warm affection for the members of his family 
 and for the few whom he honored with his friend- 
 ship. One of the latter was Vittoria Colonna, a 
 woman of strong and beautiful character, who 
 brought much brightness into his life. 
 
 Our portrait shows him somewhat past middle life 
 when occupied with many important concerns. We 
 can read in the face something of the character of 
 the man. It is certainly not a handsome face, for 
 any good looks he might once have boasted were 
 destroyed by his broken nose. It is nevertheless a 
 face full of rugged strength, with not a little kindli- 
 ness in the expression. Here is a man whose enmity 
 we should avoid, but whose friendship we should 
 value above rubies. 
 
 It is the face of a lonely man. Michelangelo had 
 to suffer the loneliness of genius. No one could 
 fully understand him. He stood apart, towering 
 like a giant above his fellow men. 
 
 On the four hundredth anniversary of Michelan- 
 gelo's birthday, some verses were written by an 
 American poet, Christopher Cranch, which one 
 should read while looking at this portrait : — 
 
 " This is the rugged face 
 Of him who won a place 
 Above all kings and lords; 
 Whose various skill and power 
 Left Italy a dower 
 No numbers can compute, no tongue translate in words. 
 
 m Patient to train and school 
 His genius to the rule 
 Art's sternest laws required; 
 
94 MICHELANGELO 
 
 Yet, by no custom chained, 
 His daring hand disdained 
 The academic forms by tamer souls admired. 
 
 " In his interior light 
 Awoke those shapes of might 
 Once known that never die; 
 Forms of titanic birth, 
 The elder brood of earth, 
 That fill the mind more grandly than they charm the eye. 
 
 " Yet when the master chose, 
 Ideal graces rose 
 Like flowers on gnarled boughs; 
 For he was nursed and fed 
 At beauty's fountain head 
 And to the goddess pledged his earliest warmest vows." 
 
 The poet describes still further the artist's char- 
 acter, and then enumerates some of his great works. 
 Whatever occupied him — 
 
 " Still proudly poised, he stepped 
 The way his vision swept, 
 And scorned the narrower view. 
 He touched with glory all 
 That pope or cardinal, 
 With lower aim than his, allotted him to do. 
 
 * So stood this Angelo 
 Four hundred years ago; 
 So grandly still he stands, 
 Mid lesser worlds of art, 
 Colossal and apart, 
 Like Memnon breathing songs across the desert sands." 
 
PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF PROPER NAMES 
 AND FOREIGN WORDS 
 
 The Diacritical Marks given are those found in the latest edition of Webster's Inter* 
 national Dictionary. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF DIACRITICAL MARKS. 
 
 A Dash (") above the vowel denotes the long sound, as in fate, eve, time, note, use. 
 
 A Dash and a Dot ( J ") above the vowel denote the same sound, less prolonged. 
 
 A Curve (~) above the vowel denotes the short sound, as in $dd, Snd, Til, 5dd, up. 
 
 A Dot ( " ) above the vowel a denotes the obscure sound of a in past, abate, AniSrici. 
 
 A Double Dot (")above the vowel a denotes the broad sound of a in father, alms. 
 
 A Double Dot ( <# ) below the vowel a denotes the sound of a in ball. 
 
 A Wave (~) above the vowel e denotes the sound of e in her. 
 
 A Circumflex Accent (*) above the vowel o denotes the sound of o in b6rn. 
 
 £ sounds like s. 
 
 •e sounds like k. 
 
 g sounds like z. 
 
 g is hard as in get. 
 
 g is soft as in gem. 
 
 Ado'ms. 
 
 ^Eneas (e ne'as) ; ^Eneid (S ne'id). 
 
 Am'azon. 
 
 AnVbrose. 
 
 An'athoth. 
 
 Anchises (an kl'sez). 
 
 An'no Dom'inl. 
 
 Apol'lo. 
 
 Ap'pian. 
 
 Arimathe'a. 
 
 Babylon (bab'i lun) ; Babylonian. 
 
 BarbaroVsa. 
 
 Bargel'lo. 
 
 Beethoven (ba/to vun). 
 
 Belshaz'zar. 
 
 Beth'lehem. 
 
 Beth-pe'or. 
 
 Bramante (bra man'ta). 
 
 Bugiardini (boo jar de'n&). 
 
 Buonarroti (boo & nar rot'e). 
 
 Canaan (ka^nan or ka'na an). 
 Carra/ra. 
 
 Celano (cha la/no). 
 Cencio, Bernardo (b8r naVd& chgn' 
 ch& 6). 
 
 Chaldean (kal de'an). 
 
 Colonna, Vittoria (vet to're a, ko Ion'* 
 
 na). 
 Condivi (k&n de'veO. 
 Cosinio (k&'ze mo). 
 Cristo Risorto (kres'to re z$r/t6). 
 Cumae (ku'rae). 
 Cyrus (sl'rus). 
 
 Daniel (dan'yel or dan'i el). 
 
 Dan'te. 
 
 Daphne (daf'ne). 
 
 Dari'tis. 
 
 De'lian. 
 
 Delphi (del'ft). 
 
 De'mos. 
 
 Dies Irse (de'as e'rl or dfez Pre). 
 
 Dionigi, di San (de san de 5 ne'je). 
 
 Domine, quo vadis (do'me na, kwa 
 
 wa/dis or dom'I n§, kwo va' dis). 
 Doni, Angelo (an'ja 15 do'nS). 
 Douay (doo a 7 ). 
 Duomo (doo o'mo). 
 
 E'ros. 
 
 Febbre, della (del'la feVbra). 
 
96 
 
 PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 
 
 Ficino (fe ehe'no). 
 
 Franciscan (fran sis'kan). 
 
 Frizzi, Federigo (fa da re'gO fret'se). 
 
 Giovanni (j6 van'ne). 
 Giuliano (joo le a'no). 
 Goli'ath 
 Gotti (got'te). 
 Gualfonda (gwal fon'da). 
 
 Hellespont. 
 Huguenot (hu'ge not). 
 
 Infgr'no. 
 Isaiah (i za'ya). 
 Israel (Iz'ra el). 
 
 Jameson (ja'me sun). 
 
 Jehoi'akim. 
 
 Jeremi'ah. 
 
 Jerome (38 rom' or jer'5m). 
 
 Jeru'salem. 
 
 Je'thro. 
 
 Josl'ah. 
 
 Judaea (ju de'a). 
 
 Ju'dah. 
 
 Ju'pitSr. 
 
 Kugler (kobg'ler). 
 
 Laz'arus. 
 Lean'dgr. 
 Lom'bardg. 
 
 Mag'dalene. 
 
 Me dian. 
 
 Medici (ma'de che). 
 
 Mem'non. 
 
 Me'nB. 
 
 Michelangelo (me kel an'ja lo). 
 
 Mid'ian. 
 
 Milan (mil' an or mi Ian'). 
 
 Milanesi (me la na'ze). 
 
 Mo'ab. 
 
 Morpheus (mor'fus). 
 
 Naz'areth. 
 
 Ne'bo. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar (neb u kad nez'zar). 
 
 Nemour (ne moor'). 
 
 Ne'ro. 
 
 Oliphant (ol'i fant). 
 
 Palazzo Vecchio (pa lat's& vek'ke 6). 
 PaTestine. 
 
 Pater Patriae (pa'tar pa'tre I or 
 pa'ter pa'tri e). 
 
 Pausanias (pa sa'ni as). 
 
 Pensiero, II (el pen s8 a'r6) ', Pensie- 
 
 roso (pen s8 a ro'zo). 
 Pharaoh (fa'r6). 
 Philis'tine. 
 Piazza della Signoria (pe at'sa del'la 
 
 sen yd re 'a). 
 Pico (pe'ko). 
 Pieta (pe a ta'). 
 Pietro in Vincoli (pe a'tr& en ven'- 
 
 kdle). 
 Pitti, Bartolommeo (bar to lorn mao 
 
 pet'te). 
 Plato. 
 
 Poliziano (p6 let se a'no) 
 pyth'I a. 
 
 Raphael (ra/fa el). 
 Rucellai (roo chel la'e). 
 
 Sac'risty. 
 
 Santarelli (san ta rel'le). 
 
 Savonarola (sa vo na ro'la). _ f 
 
 Scappuci, Mario (ma' re 6 skap poo'- 
 che). 
 
 SeVtos. 
 
 Sib'yl. 
 
 Sim'eon. 
 
 Sistine (sis'ten). 
 
 Solari, Cristoforo (kr£s tof '& r& so- 
 la're). 
 
 Stabat Mater (sta'bat ma'tgr or sta'- 
 bat ma/tar). 
 
 Strozzi, Giovan Battista (j& van' bat- 
 teVta strot'se). 
 
 Styx. • 
 
 Swin'burne. 
 
 Sym'ondg. 
 
 Tarquin (tar'kwm). 
 
 te'kel. 
 
 terribilita (ter re be r -le ta/). 
 
 Torrigiano (tor re ja'no). 
 
 Uffizi (oaf fet'se). 
 
 Upharsin (u far'sin). 
 
 Urbano, Pietro (pe a'tro obr ba'no). 
 
 Urbino (oor be' no). 
 
 Varj dei Porcari, Metello (ma tel'16 
 
 va're da' e por ka're). 
 Vasari (va sa're). 
 Vatican (vat'i kan). 
 Virgil (ver'jll). 
 Vul'gate. 
 
 Zedekl'ah. 
 Zephaniah (zef a nl'a). 
 
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