DOI Kapitel:
Painters, Sculptors, Architects, Engravers, and their Works
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61295#0174
152
BUONAROTTI.
known what this work was, but there is good reason for believing
it to have been one from which Sebastian del Piombo painted the
“ Scourging of Christ,” in a chapel of S. Pietro, in Montorio. On the
25th of February, 1518, Michael Angelo was again in Carrara for
the purpose of obtaining marble, which he needed in Florence.
Upon his arrival he found that the contracts which he had made had
not been carried out. He had much trouble, and at length, in order
to show the people of Carrara that he could do without them, he
opened quarries at Seravezza and Pietrasanta, situated on the Flor-
entine territory. But these things involved him in great difficulty,
and several months after, he writes that he is tempted to leave every-
thing and return to Carrara, for they had called him back with as
many entreaties as if he were Christ himself. At length he went
and ordered his blocks sent to Florence, and afterward divided his
time between Carrara, the new quarries, and Florence, where they
were laying the foundation for the fa9ade. In August he bought the
land on which to build a house. All this year he had nothing but
trouble. In the new quarries there was much sickness, and the men
were idle and unfaithful in every way. In October he was himself
ill; but at last, during the winter, he succeeded in conveying a num-
ber of pillars and blocks to the sea-shore, to be shipped to Florence,
when, in the spring, a command came from Rome to leave every-
thing. The building was postponed, and no payment! Although
Michael Angelo complained to the Medici in this matter, the circum-
stances by which they were surrounded compelled them to this
course of action. For a time Michael Angelo was much disheartened.
At last he commenced again upon the mausoleum. Card. Medici
now wished to erect a monument to his family in the form of a
chapel, in the ch. of S. Lorenzo. This was commenced in 1520.
In 1520 also, Raphael died ; Leonardo had died in France a year
before; and soon after came the sudden death of the P^pe. The
Medici had little money, and their work progressed slowly ; and
Michael Angelo was left free for the mausoleum and some incidental
labors. Adrian, who had succeeded Leo, did not live a year in
the Vatican. His simplicity, and his mode of life, had not suited
the people, and he died unlamented. Card. Medici now became
Pope, and the building of the Sacristy was resumed, besides which
it was resolved to erect a library of S. Lorenzo. Michael Angelo
received fifty ducats monthly, and commenced his work upon the
statues of the Dukes of Nemours and Urbino, two of the noblest
monuments that sculpture has produced. In the spring of 1524, the
Card, of Cortona made his entrance into Florence as regent, and
two months later Ippolito and Alessandro, in whose name he reigned,
followed him. In 1525, Clement VII. summoned Michael Angelo
to Rome. The heirs of Julius II. complained of the delay in the
completion of the mausoleum, but it was agreed that the matter
BUONAROTTI.
known what this work was, but there is good reason for believing
it to have been one from which Sebastian del Piombo painted the
“ Scourging of Christ,” in a chapel of S. Pietro, in Montorio. On the
25th of February, 1518, Michael Angelo was again in Carrara for
the purpose of obtaining marble, which he needed in Florence.
Upon his arrival he found that the contracts which he had made had
not been carried out. He had much trouble, and at length, in order
to show the people of Carrara that he could do without them, he
opened quarries at Seravezza and Pietrasanta, situated on the Flor-
entine territory. But these things involved him in great difficulty,
and several months after, he writes that he is tempted to leave every-
thing and return to Carrara, for they had called him back with as
many entreaties as if he were Christ himself. At length he went
and ordered his blocks sent to Florence, and afterward divided his
time between Carrara, the new quarries, and Florence, where they
were laying the foundation for the fa9ade. In August he bought the
land on which to build a house. All this year he had nothing but
trouble. In the new quarries there was much sickness, and the men
were idle and unfaithful in every way. In October he was himself
ill; but at last, during the winter, he succeeded in conveying a num-
ber of pillars and blocks to the sea-shore, to be shipped to Florence,
when, in the spring, a command came from Rome to leave every-
thing. The building was postponed, and no payment! Although
Michael Angelo complained to the Medici in this matter, the circum-
stances by which they were surrounded compelled them to this
course of action. For a time Michael Angelo was much disheartened.
At last he commenced again upon the mausoleum. Card. Medici
now wished to erect a monument to his family in the form of a
chapel, in the ch. of S. Lorenzo. This was commenced in 1520.
In 1520 also, Raphael died ; Leonardo had died in France a year
before; and soon after came the sudden death of the P^pe. The
Medici had little money, and their work progressed slowly ; and
Michael Angelo was left free for the mausoleum and some incidental
labors. Adrian, who had succeeded Leo, did not live a year in
the Vatican. His simplicity, and his mode of life, had not suited
the people, and he died unlamented. Card. Medici now became
Pope, and the building of the Sacristy was resumed, besides which
it was resolved to erect a library of S. Lorenzo. Michael Angelo
received fifty ducats monthly, and commenced his work upon the
statues of the Dukes of Nemours and Urbino, two of the noblest
monuments that sculpture has produced. In the spring of 1524, the
Card, of Cortona made his entrance into Florence as regent, and
two months later Ippolito and Alessandro, in whose name he reigned,
followed him. In 1525, Clement VII. summoned Michael Angelo
to Rome. The heirs of Julius II. complained of the delay in the
completion of the mausoleum, but it was agreed that the matter