DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51585#0055
MICHAEL ANGELO.
51
Angelo was in his thirty-ninth year; fifty years of
a glorious though troubled career were still before
him.
Pope Julius II. died in 1513, and was succeeded
by Leo X., the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
As a Florentine and his father’s son, we might na-
turally have expected that he would have gloried
in patronising and employing Michael Angelo ;
but such was not the case. There was something
in the stern, unbending character, and retired and
abstemious habits of Michael Angelo, repulsive to
the temper of Leo, who preferred the graceful and
amiable^Raphael, then in the prime of his life and
genius: hence arose the memorable rivalry be-
tween Michael Angelo and Raphael, which on the
part of the latter was merely generous emulation,
while it must be confessed that something like
bitterness and envy, or at least scorn, mingled with
the feelings of Michael Angelo. The pontificate
of Leo X., an interval of ten years, was the least
productive period of his life. He was sent to Flo-
rence, to superintend the building of the church of
San Lorenzo and the completion of Santa Croce ;
but he differed with the pope on the choice of the
marble, quarrelled with the officials, and scarcely
anything was accomplished. Clement VII., an-
other Medici, was elected pope in 1523. He was
the son of that Giuliano de’ Medici who was assas-
sinated by the Pazzi in 1478. He had conceived
51
Angelo was in his thirty-ninth year; fifty years of
a glorious though troubled career were still before
him.
Pope Julius II. died in 1513, and was succeeded
by Leo X., the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
As a Florentine and his father’s son, we might na-
turally have expected that he would have gloried
in patronising and employing Michael Angelo ;
but such was not the case. There was something
in the stern, unbending character, and retired and
abstemious habits of Michael Angelo, repulsive to
the temper of Leo, who preferred the graceful and
amiable^Raphael, then in the prime of his life and
genius: hence arose the memorable rivalry be-
tween Michael Angelo and Raphael, which on the
part of the latter was merely generous emulation,
while it must be confessed that something like
bitterness and envy, or at least scorn, mingled with
the feelings of Michael Angelo. The pontificate
of Leo X., an interval of ten years, was the least
productive period of his life. He was sent to Flo-
rence, to superintend the building of the church of
San Lorenzo and the completion of Santa Croce ;
but he differed with the pope on the choice of the
marble, quarrelled with the officials, and scarcely
anything was accomplished. Clement VII., an-
other Medici, was elected pope in 1523. He was
the son of that Giuliano de’ Medici who was assas-
sinated by the Pazzi in 1478. He had conceived