than
any of these full biographies are recommended the chapters on
Michelangelo in Kugler's "Handbook of the Italian Schools," in Mrs.
Jameson's "Memoirs of the Italian Painters," in Frank Preston
Stearns's "Midsummer of Italian Art," in Mrs. Oliphant's "Makers of
Florence," and in Symonds's volume on "Fine Arts" in the series
"Renaissance in Italy."

To understand more fully the character of the man Michelangelo, the
student should read his sonnets. There is a complete collection
translated by J.A. Symonds, while both Wordsworth and Longfellow have
translated a few.

The life of Michelangelo has furnished material for two long poems by
American writers,--Longfellow's drama, and the poem by Stuart Sterne.
The former, which is annotated, is a well-balanced study of the great
artist's career and ideals.

III. HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE WORKS OF ART IN THIS COLLECTION.

_Portrait frontispiece._ An oil painting in The Hall of the Portraits
of Old Masters, Uffizi Gallery, Florence. The authorship of the
painting is not certainly known. Symonds says that "it may perhaps be
ascribed with some show of probability to Bugiardini." Bugiardini was a
friend of Michelangelo's youth and a fellow student in the gardens of
the Medici. That later in life he painted a portrait of his
distinguished friend we know from Vasari. Vasari tells us that the
portrait showed a peculiarity in the right eye, and this fact lends
probability to the identification of the Uffizi portrait with
Bugiardini's work.

1. _Madonna and Child_, an unfinished bas-relief medallion, made,
according to Vasari, during Michelangelo's residence in Florence in
1501-1505. It was made for Bartolommeo Pitti. It is now in the
National Museum (Bargello), Florence.

2. _David_, a statue made from a block of Carrara marble which had
been spoiled by an unskilled sculptor. After it had lain useless in
Florence for a century, a sculptor applied to the board of works of
the cathedral for permission to use it. The board consulted
Michelangelo and offered him the marble. He undertook to cut from it a
single figure which would exactly use the block. The contract to make
the statue of David was drawn up in 1501, and the statue was completed
in 1504. Forty men were employed four days to remove it from the
cathedral works to the Piazza della Signoria, where it was placed on
the platform of the palace (Palazzo Vecchio), remaining in the open
air more than three centuries