7.]

PAINTING OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL

THE SPLENDOR OF RENAISSANCE ART UNDER MICHELANGELO

A.D. 1508

CHARLES CLEMENT

In the history of the Renaissance the revival of art adds a new glory
to that of letters, and among the masters of that revival there is none
greater than Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, architect, poet,
and heroic man. He was descended from an ancient but not distinguished
Florentine family, and was born at Caprese, Italy, March 6, 1475. In 1488
he was apprenticed to the painter Ghirlandajo. He studied antique marbles
in the garden of San Marco, where he was discovered by Lorenzo de'
Medici, who in 1489 took him into his palace. There the young student
remained until his patron's death (1492), improving the great
opportunities presented to him. The Mask of a Faun was sculptured during
this time.

Before the expulsion of the Medici he went to Bologna, and there executed
several works. Returning to Florence in 1495, he was called next year
to Rome, where he lived till 1501, producing works which displayed his
extraordinary genius, the most important of them being the Pieta di San
Pietro (1498). Again returning to Florence, he carved his first David
from an immense block of Carrara marble. In 1505 he was summoned again
to Rome, by Pope Julius II, to design his tomb, and this work occupied
Michelangelo, from time to time, throughout the remainder of his life.
He was forced--probably through the intrigues of Bramante, his rival in
architecture--to leave Rome, and once more (1506) returned to Florence.
In the intervals between all these dates he produced many of his
masterpieces.

From this period the historian follows Michelangelo through an important
stage of his active career, showing how "the hand that rounded Peter's
dome," and created so many other of the greatest works of art, toiled
on with patient heroism, in spite of hinderances almost incredible. The
painting of the Sistine Chapel, upon which his fame so largely rests, is
here described in language that reveals the manhood no less clearly than
the artistic genius of Michelangelo.

In 1508 Michelangelo returned to Rome and resumed his labors on the
mausoleum. He had soon again to abandon them. Bramante had persuaded the
Pope that it was unlucky to have his tomb erected, but advised him to
employ Michelangelo in painting the chapel built by his uncle Sixtus IV.
It was, in effect, in the beginning of this year that he commen