little merit, who plod along in the art which God gave me, to
lengthen out my life as far as possible. Such as I am, I remain your
servant and that of all the house of Martelli. I thank you for your
letter and the poems, but not as much as duty bids, for I cannot soar
to such heights of courtesy."

When the Last Judgment was finished, Michelangelo not unreasonably
hoped that he might resume his work upon the Tomb of Julius. But this
was not to be. Antonio da San Gallo had just completed the Chapel of
the Holy Sacrament in the Vatican, which is known as the Cappella
Paolina, and the Pope resolved that its frescoes should be painted by
Buonarroti. The Duke of Urbino, yielding to his wishes, wrote to
Michelangelo upon the 6th of March 1542, saying that he should be
quite satisfied if the three statues by his hand, including the Moses,
were assigned to the tomb, the execution of the rest being left to
competent workmen under his direction.

In effect, we possess documents proving that the tomb was consigned to
several masters during this year, 1542. The first is a contract dated
February 27, whereby Raffaello da Montelupo undertakes to finish three
statues, two of these being the Active Life and the Contemplative. The
second is a contract dated May 16, in which Michelangelo assigns the
architectural and ornamental portion of the monument conjointly to
Giovanni de' Marchesi and Francesco d' Amadore, called Urbino,
providing that differences which may arise between them shall be
referred to Donato Giannotti. There is a third contract, under date
June 1, about the same work intrusted to the same two craftsmen,
prescribing details with more exactitude. It turned out that the
apprehension of disagreement between the masters about the division of
their labour was not unfounded, for Michelangelo wrote twice in July
to his friend Luigi del Riccio, complaining bitterly of their
dissensions, and saying that he has lost two months in these trifles.
He adds that one of them is covetous, the other mad, and he fears
their quarrel may end in wounds or murder. The matter disturbs his
mind greatly, chiefly on account of Urbino, because he has brought him
up, and also because of the time wasted over "their ignorance and
bestial stupidity." The dispute was finally settled by the
intervention of three master-masons (acting severally for
Michelangelo, Urbino, and Giovanni), who valued the respective
portions of the work.

I must interrupt