ce Michelangelo's death, and
twenty-one since his consignment to the coffin; but, to our great
surprise, the dead man lay before us perfect in all his parts, and
without the evil odours of the grave; indeed, one might have thought
that he was resting in a sweet and very tranquil slumber. Not only did
the features of his countenance bear exactly the same aspect as in
life, except for some inevitable pallor, but none of his limbs were
injured, or repulsive to the sight. The head and cheeks, to the touch,
felt just as though he had breathed his last but a few hours since."
As soon as the eagerness of the multitude calmed down a little, the
bier was carried into the church again, and the coffin was deposited
in a proper place behind the altar of the Cavalcanti.

When the academicians decreed a catafalque for Michelangelo's solemn
obsequies in S. Lorenzo, they did not aim so much at worldly splendour
or gorgeous trappings as at an impressive monument, combining the
several arts which he had practised in his lifetime. Being made of
stucco, woodwork, plaster, and such perishable materials, it was
unfortunately destined to decay. But Florence had always been liberal,
nay, lavish, of her genius in triumphs, masques, magnificent street
architecture, evoked to celebrate some ephemeral event. A worthier
occasion would not occur again; and we have every reason to believe
that the superb structure, which was finally exposed to view upon the
14th of July, displayed all that was left at Florence of the grand
style in the arts of modelling and painting. They were decadent
indeed; during the eighty-nine years of Buonarroti's life upon earth
they had expanded, flourished, and flowered with infinite variety in
rapid evolution. He lived to watch their decline; yet the sunset of
that long day was still splendid to the eyes and senses.

The four deputies appointed by the academy held frequent sittings
before the plan was fixed, and the several parts had been assigned to
individual craftsmen. Ill health prevented Cellini from attending, but
he sent a letter to the lieutenant, which throws some interesting
light upon the project in its earlier stages. A minute description of
the monument was published soon after the event. Another may be read
in the pages of Vasari. Varchi committed his oration to the press, and
two other panegyrical discourses were issued, under the names of
Leonardo Salviati and Giovan Maria Tarsia. Poems composed on the
oc