Produced by Ted Garvin, Keith M. Eckrich and the PG Distributed Proofreaders
THE LIFE OF MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI
By JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS
TO THE CAVALIERE GUIDO BIAGI, DOCTOR IN LETTERS, PREFECT OF THEMEDICEO-LAURENTIAN LIBRARY, ETC., ETC.
I DEDICATE THIS WORK ON MICHELANGELO IN RESPECT FOR HIS SCHOLARSHIPAND LEARNING ADMIRATION OF HIS TUSCAN STYLE AND GRATEFULACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS GENEROUS ASSISTANCE
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. BIRTH, BOYHOOD, YOUTH AT FLORENCE, DOWN TO LORENZO DE' MEDICI'S DEATH. 1475-1492.
II. FIRST VISITS TO BOLOGNA AND ROME—THE MADONNA DELLA FEBBRE AND OTHER WORKS IN MARBLE. 1492-1501.
III. RESIDENCE IN FLORENCE—THE DAVID. 1501-1505.
IV. JULIUS II. CALLS MICHELANGELO TO ROME—PROJECT FOR THE POPE'S TOMB—THE REBUILDING OF S. PETER'S—FLIGHT FROM ROME—CARTOON FOR THE BATTLE OF PISA. 1505, 1506.
V. SECOND VISIT TO BOLOGNA—THE BRONZE STATUE OF JULIUS II—PAINTING OF THE SISTINE VAULT. 1506-1512.
VI. ON MICHELANGELO AS DRAUGHTSMAN, PAINTER, SCULPTOR.
VII. LEO X. PLANS FOR THE CHURCH OF S. LORENZO AT FLORENCE—MICHELANGELO'S LIFE AT CARRARA. 1513-1521.
VIII. ADRIAN VI AND CLEMENT VII—THE SACRISTY AND LIBRARY OF S. LORENZO. 1521-1526.
IX. SACK OF ROME AND SIEGE OF FLORENCE—MICHELANGELO'S FLIGHT TO VENICE—HIS RELATIONS TO THE MEDICI. 1527-1534.
X. ON MICHELANGELO AS ARCHITECT.
XI. FINAL SETTLEMENT IN ROME—PAUL III.—THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE PAOLINE CHAPEL—THE TOMB OF JULIUS. 1535-1542.
XII. VITTORIA COLONNA AND TOMMASO CAVALIERI—MICHELANGELO AS POET AND MAN OF FEELING.
XIII. MICHELANGELO APPOINTED ARCHITECT-IN-CHIEF AT THE VATICAN—HISTORY OF S. PETER'S. 1542-1557.
XIV. LAST YEARS OF LIFE—MICHELANGELO'S PORTRAITS—ILLNESS OF OLD AGE. 1557-1564.
XV. DEATH AT ROME—BURIAL AND OBSEQUIES AT FLORENCE—ANECDOTES—ESTIMATE OF MICHELANGELO AS MAN AND ARTIST.
THE LIFE OF MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI
CHAPTER I
I
The Buonarroti Simoni, to whom Michelangelo belonged, were aFlorentine family of ancient burgher nobility. Their arms appear tohave been originally "azure two bends or." To this coat was added "alabel of four points gules inclosing three fleur-de-lys or." Thataugmentation, adopted from the shield of Charles of Anjou, occurs uponthe scutcheons of many Guelf houses and cities. In the case of theFlorentine Simoni, it may be ascribed to the period when Buonarrota diSimone Simoni held office as a captain of the Guelf party (1392).Such, then, was the paternal coat borne by the subject of this Memoir.His brother Buonarroto received a further augmentation in 1515 fromLeo X., to wit: "upon a chief or, a pellet azure charged withfleur-de-lys or, between the capital letters L. and X." At the sametime he was created Count Palatine. The old and simple bearing of thetwo bends was then crowded down into the extreme base of the shield,while the Angevine label found room beneath the chief.
According to a vague tradition, the Simoni drew their blood from thehigh and puissant Counts of Canossa. Michelangelo himself believed inthis pedigree, for which there is, however, no foundation in fact, andno heraldic corrob