o splendid edifices and majestic squares reminded the spectator
that here once stood the shrine of Jupiter Capitolinus, to which
conquering generals rode in triumph with the spoils and captives of
the habitable world behind their laurelled chariots. Paul III.
approved of the design, and Michelangelo, who had received the
citizenship of Rome on March 20, 1546, undertook to provide a scheme
for its accomplishment. We are justified in believing that the
disposition of the parts which now compose the Capitol is due to his
conception: the long steep flight of steps leading up from the Piazza
Araceli; the irregular open square, flanked on the left hand by the
Museum of Sculpture, on the right by the Palazzo dei Conservatori, and
closed at its farther end by the Palazzo del Senatore. He also placed
the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus on its noble
pedestal, and suggested the introduction of other antique specimens of
sculpture into various portions of the architectural plan. The
splendid double staircase leading to the entrance hall of the Palazzo
del Senatore, and part of the Palazzo dei Conservatori, were completed
during Michelangelo's lifetime. When Vasari wrote in 1568, the dead
sculptor's friend, Tommaso dei Cavalieri, was proceeding with the
work. There is every reason, therefore, to assume that the latter
building, at any rate, fairly corresponds to his intention. Vignola
and Giacomo della Porta, both of them excellent architects, carried
out the scheme, which must have been nearly finished in the
pontificate of Innocent X. (1644-1655).

Like the cupola of S. Peter's, the Campidoglio has always been
regarded as one of Michelangelo's most meritorious performances in
architecture. His severe critic, M. Charles Garnier, says of the
Capitol: "The general composition of the edifice is certainly worthy
of Buonarroti's powerful conception. The balustrade which crowns the
facade is indeed bad and vulgar; the great pilasters are very poor in
invention, and the windows of the first story are extremely mediocre
in style. Nevertheless, there is a great simplicity of lines in these
palaces; and the porticoes of the ground-floor might be selected for
the beauty of their leading motive. The opposition of the great
pilasters to the little columns is an idea at once felicitous and
original. The whole has a fine effect; and though I hold the
proportions of the ground-floor too low in relation to the first
story, I conside