DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62783#0169
EXTRACTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
101
“ Pope Julius was very desirous of seeing the works that he
(Michael Angelo) was painting; and his curiosity was the greater
because they were concealed from him. And so one day he deter-
mined to go and see the chapel, but it was not opened to him,
because Michael Angelo would not show it. On this account there
arose a quarrel, so that Michael Angelo was obliged to leave Rome,
not choosing to show it to the Pope, because, as he told me himself,
when the third part of it was finished, there began to appear on it a
certain mouldiness one winter while the north wind was blowing.
The cause of this was that the Roman lime being white, and made
from travertine, does not dry so quickly, and when mixed with
Pozzolana, which is of a tan colour, makes a dark mixture. If this
mixture be liquid, and watery, and the wall be thoroughly wetted, it
frequently effloresces as it dries. This was the case, in the present
instance, for in many places the salt effloresced, although in lapse of
time the air consumed it. Michael Angelo was very much disturbed
by this circumstance, and would not go on with the work, and when
he excused himself to the Pope saying, that he could not succeed
with it, his Holiness sent to him Giuliano da San Gallo, who,
having explained the cause of it, encouraged him to go on with the
work, and taught him how to get rid of the mouldiness. Having
thus half finished it, the Pope, who with the assistance of Michael
Angelo, and by means of certain ladders, had already seen some
part of the ceiling, insisted on the chapel being throwm open,
because he was naturally hasty and impatient, and could not
wait until it was perfect, and had received, so to speak, the last
touches. The moment it was thrown open, all Rome ran to see it,
and the Pope was the first, not even having the patience to wait till
the dust, caused by the removal of the scaffolding, had settled ;
and Raffaello da Urbino, who was an excellent imitator, having seen
it, suddenly changed his manner, and immediately, to shew his skill,
painted the prophets and the sybils in the chapel of the Chigi in the
church of Sta. Maria della Pace. Bramante then tried to induce the
Pope to give the painting of the other half of the chapel to Raffaello.
When Michael Angelo heard of it, he was angry with Bramante,
and, without any consideration for him, told the Pope many of the
faults both of his life and of his architectural works. But the Pope
appreciating the value of Michael Angelo more and more every day,
desired he would go on with the work, and having seen the picture
uncovered, considered that Michael Angelo could greatly improve
101
“ Pope Julius was very desirous of seeing the works that he
(Michael Angelo) was painting; and his curiosity was the greater
because they were concealed from him. And so one day he deter-
mined to go and see the chapel, but it was not opened to him,
because Michael Angelo would not show it. On this account there
arose a quarrel, so that Michael Angelo was obliged to leave Rome,
not choosing to show it to the Pope, because, as he told me himself,
when the third part of it was finished, there began to appear on it a
certain mouldiness one winter while the north wind was blowing.
The cause of this was that the Roman lime being white, and made
from travertine, does not dry so quickly, and when mixed with
Pozzolana, which is of a tan colour, makes a dark mixture. If this
mixture be liquid, and watery, and the wall be thoroughly wetted, it
frequently effloresces as it dries. This was the case, in the present
instance, for in many places the salt effloresced, although in lapse of
time the air consumed it. Michael Angelo was very much disturbed
by this circumstance, and would not go on with the work, and when
he excused himself to the Pope saying, that he could not succeed
with it, his Holiness sent to him Giuliano da San Gallo, who,
having explained the cause of it, encouraged him to go on with the
work, and taught him how to get rid of the mouldiness. Having
thus half finished it, the Pope, who with the assistance of Michael
Angelo, and by means of certain ladders, had already seen some
part of the ceiling, insisted on the chapel being throwm open,
because he was naturally hasty and impatient, and could not
wait until it was perfect, and had received, so to speak, the last
touches. The moment it was thrown open, all Rome ran to see it,
and the Pope was the first, not even having the patience to wait till
the dust, caused by the removal of the scaffolding, had settled ;
and Raffaello da Urbino, who was an excellent imitator, having seen
it, suddenly changed his manner, and immediately, to shew his skill,
painted the prophets and the sybils in the chapel of the Chigi in the
church of Sta. Maria della Pace. Bramante then tried to induce the
Pope to give the painting of the other half of the chapel to Raffaello.
When Michael Angelo heard of it, he was angry with Bramante,
and, without any consideration for him, told the Pope many of the
faults both of his life and of his architectural works. But the Pope
appreciating the value of Michael Angelo more and more every day,
desired he would go on with the work, and having seen the picture
uncovered, considered that Michael Angelo could greatly improve