er in this
way, it will be a trifle; you will do nothing, and seem to do all; but
remember that the work must be carried out under your shadow." A
series of despatches, forwarded between December 4, 1531, and April
29, 1532, by Giovan Maria della Porta to the Duke of Urbino, confirm
the particulars furnished by the letters which Sebastiano still
continued to write from Rome. At the end of 1531 Michelangelo
expressed his anxiety to visit Rome, now that the negotiations with
the Duke were nearly complete. Sebastiano, hearing this, replies: "You
will effect more in half an hour than I can do in a whole year. I
believe that you will arrange everything after two words with his
Holiness; for our Lord is anxious to meet your wishes." He wanted to
be present at the drawing up and signing of the contract. Clement,
however, although he told Sebastiano that he should be glad to see
him, hesitated to send the necessary permission, and it was not until
the month of April 1532 that he set out. About the 6th, as appears
from the indorsement of a letter received in his absence, he must have
reached Rome. The new contract was not ready for signature before the
29th, and on that date Michelangelo left for Florence, having, as he
says, been sent off by the Pope in a hurry on the very day appointed
for its execution. In his absence it was duly signed and witnessed
before Clement; the Cardinals Gonzaga and da Monte and the Lady Felice
della Rovere attesting, while Giovan Maria della Porta and Girolamo
Staccoli acted for the Duke of Urbino. When Michelangelo returned and
saw the instrument, he found that several clauses prejudicial to his
interests had been inserted by the notary. "I discovered more than
1000 ducats charged unjustly to my debit, also the house in which I
live, and certain other hooks and crooks to ruin me. The Pope would
certainly not have tolerated this knavery, as Fra Sebastiano can bear
witness, since he wished me to complain to Clement and have the notary
hanged. I swear I never received the moneys which Giovan Maria della
Porta wrote against me, and caused to be engrossed upon the contract."

It is difficult to understand why Michelangelo should not have
immediately taken measures to rectify these errors. He seems to have
been well aware that he was bound to refund 2000 ducats, since the
only letter from his pen belonging to the year 1532 is one dated May,
and addressed to Andrea Quarantesi in Pisa. In this document he