this narrative of the tomb to explain who some of the
persons just mentioned were, and how they came to be connected with
Buonarroti. Donato Giannotti was the famous writer upon political and
literary topics, who, after playing a conspicuous part in the
revolution of Florence against the Medici, now lived in exile at Rome.
His dialogues on Dante, and Francesco d'Olanda's account of the
meetings at S. Silvestro, prove that he formed a member of that little
circle which included Michelangelo and Vittoria Colonna. Luigi del
Riccio was a Florentine merchant, settled in the banking-house of the
Strozzi at Rome. For many years he acted as Michelangelo's man of
business; but their friendship was close and warm in many other ways.
They were drawn together by a common love of poetry, and by the charm
of a rarely gifted youth called Cecchino dei Bracci. Urbino was the
great sculptor's servant and man of all work, the last and best of
that series, which included Stefano Miniatore, Pietro Urbino, Antonio
Mini. Michelangelo made Urbino's fortune, mourned his death, and
undertook the guardianship of his children, as will appear in due
course. All through his life the great sculptor was dependent upon
some trusted servant, to whom he became personally attached, and who
did not always repay his kindness with gratitude. After Urbino's
death, Ascanio Condivi filled a similar post, and to this circumstance
we owe the most precious of our contemporary biographies.

Our most important document with regard to the Tomb of Julius is an
elaborate petition addressed by Michelangelo to Paul III. upon the
20th of July. It begins by referring to the contract of April 18,
1532, and proceeds to state that the Pope's new commission for the
Cappella Paolina has interfered once more with the fulfilment of the
sculptor's engagements. Then it recites the terms suggested by the
Duke of Urbino in his letter of March 6, 1542, according to which
three of the statues of the tomb may be assigned to capable craftsmen,
while the other three, including the Moses, will have to be finished
by Michelangelo himself. Raffaello da Montelupo has already undertaken
the Madonna and Child, a Prophet, and a Sibyl. Giovanni de' Marchese
and Francesco da Urbino are at work upon the architecture. It remains
for Michelangelo to furnish the Moses and two Captives, all three of
which are nearly completed. The Captives, however, were designed for a
much larger monument, and will no