naturally, because their
profession obliges them to lead a recluse life, or because their
character rebels against feigned politenesses and conventional usage,
ought in common justice to be tolerated. What claim by right have you
on him? Why should you force him to take part in those vain pastimes,
which his love for a quiet life induces him to shun? Do you not know
that there are sciences which demand the whole of a man, without
leaving the least portion of his spirit free for your distractions?"
This apology for his own life, couched in a vindication of the
artistic temperament, breathes an accent of sincerity, and paints
Michelangelo as he really was, with his somewhat haughty sense of
personal dignity. What he says about his absence of mind in the
presence of great princes might be illustrated by a remark attributed
to Clement VII. "When Buonarroti comes to see me, I always take a seat
and bid him to be seated, feeling sure that he will do so without
leave or license."

The conversation passed by natural degrees to a consideration of the
fine arts in general. In the course of this discussion, Michelangelo
uttered several characteristic opinions, strongly maintaining the
superiority of the Italian to the Flemish and German schools, and
asserting his belief that, while all objects are worthy of imitation
by the artist, the real touch stone of excellence lies in his power to
represent the human form. His theory of the arts in their reciprocal
relations and affinities throws interesting light upon the qualities
of his own genius and his method in practice. "The science of design,
or of line-drawing, if you like to use this term, is the source and
very essence of painting, sculpture, architecture, and of every form
of representation, as well too as of all the sciences. He who has made
himself a master in this art possesses a great treasure. Sometimes,
when I meditate upon these topics, it seems to me that I can discover
but one art or science, which is design, and that all the works of the
human brain and hand are either design itself or a branch of that
art." This theme he develops at some length, showing how a complete
mastery of drawing is necessary not only to the plastic arts of
painting and sculpture, but also to the constructive and mechanical
arts of architecture, fortification, gun-foundry, and so forth,
applying the same principle to the minutest industries.

With regard to the personal endowments of the art