them and for yourself eternal fame_.

Vasari's official position at the ducal court of Florence brought him
into frequent and personal relations with Cosimo de' Medici. The Duke
had long been anxious to lure the most gifted of his subjects back to
Florence; but Michelangelo, though he remained a loyal servant to the
Medicean family, could not approve of Cosimo's despotic rule.
Moreover, he was now engaged by every tie of honour, interest, and
artistic ambition to superintend the fabric of S. Peter's. He showed
great tact, through delicate negotiations carried on for many years,
in avoiding the Duke's overtures without sacrificing his friendship.
Wishing to found his family in Florence and to fund the earnings of
his life there, he naturally assumed a courteous attitude. A letter
written by the Bishop Tornabuoni to Giovanni Francesco Lottini in Rome
shows that these overtures began as early as 1546. The prelate says
the Duke is so anxious to regain "Michelangelo, the divine sculptor,"
that he promises "to make him a member of the forty-eight senators,
and to give him any office he may ask for." The affair was dropped for
some years, but in 1552 Cosimo renewed his attempts, and now began to
employ Vasari and Cellini as ambassadors. Soon after finishing his
Perseus, Benvenuto begged for leave to go to Rome; and before
starting, he showed the Duke Michelangelo's friendly letter on the
bust of Bindo Altoviti. "He read it with much kindly interest, and
said to me: 'Benvenuto, if you write to him, and can persuade him to
return to Florence, I will make him a member of the Forty-eight.'
Accordingly I wrote a letter full of warmth, and offered in the Duke's
name a hundred times more than my commission carried; but not wanting
to make any mistake, I showed this to the Duke before I sealed it,
saying to his most illustrious Excellency: 'Prince, perhaps I have
made him too many promises.' He replied: 'Michel Agnolo deserves more
than you have promised, and I will bestow on him still greater
favours.' To this letter he sent no answer, and I could see that the
Duke was much offended with him."

While in Rome, Cellini went to visit Michelangelo, and renewed his
offers in the Duke's name. What passed in that interview is so
graphically told, introducing the rustic personality of Urbino on the
stage, and giving a hint of Michelangelo's reasons for not returning
in person to Florence, that the whole passage may be transcribed as
openin