oward the
autumn he became alarmingly ill. We have a letter from Paolo Mini, the
uncle of his servant Antonio, written to Baccio Valori on the 29th of
September. After describing the beauty of two statues for the Medicean
tombs, Mini says he fears that "Michelangelo will not live long,
unless some measures are taken for his benefit. He works very hard,
eats little and poorly, and sleeps less. In fact, he is afflicted with
two kinds of disorder, the one in his head, the other in his heart.
Neither is incurable, since he has a robust constitution; but for the
good of his head, he ought to be restrained by our Lord the Pope from
working through the winter in the sacristy, the air of which is bad
for him; and for his heart, the best remedy would be if his Holiness
could accommodate matters with the Duke of Urbino." In a second
letter, of October 8, Mini insists again upon the necessity of freeing
Michelangelo's mind from his anxieties. The upshot was that Clement,
on the 21st of November, addressed a brief to his sculptor, whereby
Buonarroti was ordered, under pain of excommunication, to lay aside
all work except what was strictly necessary for the Medicean
monuments, and to take better care of his health. On the 26th of the
same month Benvenuto della Volpaia wrote, repeating what the Pope had
written in his brief, and adding that his Holiness desired him to
select some workshop more convenient for his health than the cold and
cheerless sacristy.

In spite of Clement's orders that Michelangelo should confine himself
strictly to working on the Medicean monuments, he continued to be
solicited with various commissions. Thus the Cardinal Cybo wrote in
December begging him to furnish a design for a tomb which he intended
to erect. Whether Michelangelo consented is not known.

Early in December Sebastiano resumed his communications on the subject
of the tomb of Julius, saying that Michelangelo must not expect to
satisfy the Duke without executing the work, in part at least,
himself. "There is no one but yourself that harms you: I mean, your
eminent fame and the greatness of your works. I do not say this to
flatter you. Therefore, I am of opinion that, without some shadow of
yourself, we shall never induce those parties to do what we want. It
seems to me that you might easily make designs and models, and
afterwards assign the completion to any master whom you choose. But
the shadow of yourself there must be. If you take the matt