years and a half had been spent upon it, the work was done, and a
discussion then arose as to where it should be placed.

At length it was decided to put it where Michael Angelo himself wished
it to be, next the gate of the palace where the Judith of Donatello then
stood. The statue weighed eighteen thousand pounds, and its removal was
a work of great importance. I shall not give all the details of it here,
but shall quote what Grimm says: "The erection of this David was like
an occurrence in nature from which people are accustomed to reckon. We
find events dated so many years after the erection of the giant. It was
mentioned in records in which there was not a line respecting art."

[Illustration: FIG. 106.--MICHAEL ANGELO'S DAVID.]

In 1527 the statue was injured by a stone thrown in a riot. At length it
began to show the effect of time and weather, and the people of Florence
talked of removing it for better preservation. There was much feeling
against this; the Florentines feared that misfortunes would fall upon
them if this great work were disturbed; but at last, in 1873, it was
placed in the Academy of Fine Arts. It represents the youthful David at
the moment when he declares to Goliath, "I come unto thee in the name of
the Lord of Hosts." The beautiful figure is muscular and pliant, and
the face is full of courage. (Fig. 106.)

About the beginning of the year 1505 Pope Julius II. summoned Michael
Angelo to Rome, and after a time gave him a commission to build a
colossal mausoleum to be erected for himself. The design was made and
accepted, and then Michael Angelo went to Carrara to select marble;
after much trouble he succeeded in getting it to Rome, where all who saw
it were astonished at the size of the blocks. Pope Julius was delighted,
and had a passage made from the palace to the workshop of the sculptor,
so that he could visit the artist without being seen. Other sculptors
now became jealous of Michael Angelo, and when he went a second time to
Carrara, Bramante persuaded the pope that it was a bad sign to build his
tomb while he was still living. When Michael Angelo returned and the
workmen he had hired arrived from Florence, he found the pope much
changed toward him. He no longer hastened the work, neither would he
furnish money to carry it on.

Michael Angelo sought the pope for an explanation, and was refused an
audience. He wrote a letter thus: "Most Holy Father, I was this morning
driven from the pa