in its restoration.

This is the last glimpse we have of Michelangelo before his flight
from Rome. Under what circumstances he suddenly departed may be
related in the words of a letter addressed by him to Giuliano da San
Gallo in Rome upon the 2nd of May 1506, after his return to Florence.

"Giuliano,--Your letter informs me that the Pope was angry at my
departure, as also that his Holiness is inclined to proceed with the
works agreed upon between us, and that I may return and not be anxious
about anything.

"About my leaving Rome, it is a fact that on Holy Saturday I heard the
Pope, in conversation with a jeweller at table and with the Master of
Ceremonies, say that he did not mean to spend a farthing more on
stones, small or great. This caused me no little astonishment.
However, before I left his presence, I asked for part of the money
needed to carry on the work. His Holiness told me to return on Monday.
I did so, and on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, and on Thursday, as the
Pope saw. At last, on Friday morning, I was sent away, or plainly
turned out of doors. The man who did this said he knew me, but that
such were his orders. I, who had heard the Pope's words on Saturday,
and now perceived their result in deeds, was utterly cast down. This
was not, however, quite the only reason of my departure; there was
something else, which I do not wish to communicate; enough that it
made me think that, if I stayed in Rome, that city would be my tomb
before it was the Pope's. And this was the cause of my sudden
departure.

"Now you write to me at the Pope's instance. So I beg you to read him
this letter, and inform his Holiness that I am even more than ever
disposed to carry out the work."

Further details may be added from subsequent letters of Michelangelo.
Writing in January 1524 to his friend Giovanni Francesco Fattucci, he
says: "When I had finished paying for the transport of these marbles,
and all the money was spent, I furnished the house I had upon the
Piazza di S. Pietro with beds and utensils at my own expense, trusting
to the commission of the tomb, and sent for workmen from Florence, who
are still alive, and paid them in advance out of my own purse.
Meanwhile Pope Julius changed his mind about the tomb, and would not
have it made. Not knowing this, I applied to him for money, and was
expelled from the chamber. Enraged at such an insult, I left Rome on
the moment. The things with which my house was stocked went t