Phillipps, Evelyn March: The frescoes in the Sixtine chapel (London: John Murray, 1901)

VITTORIA COLONNA

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eleven years, and had such a softening and
cheering influence upon his life. At this
time Vittoria was forty-five years old, and
had for ten years been the widow of the
Marquis of Pescara, to whose memory she
was devoted. A brilliant woman of high
culture and poetical feeling, with unbounded
appreciation of Michel Angelo’s genius, it
is easy to gather from their correspondence,
that she gave him, what he never had known
before, affectionate sympathy, tactful com-
prehension, the companionable friendship
of a delightful woman, which must have
been as soothing as it was new to the old
painter. At this time he painted for her
“a sweet and tender picture” of Christ,
and she receiving it, promises to pray for
his success in his task.
It was some time in 1535 that the great
fresco was begun. 1536, the greater part
of 1537 passed away, and it was still in
progress. Its fame had spread over Italy,
and in 1536 Michel Angelo received a
letter from Pietro Aretino, the satirist, the
profligate companion of Titian, in which he
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