OF JUDGMENT

As soon as Michael Angelo arrived in Rome, in 1535, he set to work to
complete his contract for the Tomb of Julius, and marbles that had waited
in silence for his liberating hand began to resound with the clink of the
iron. The two Slaves in the Louvre appear to have been worked upon once
again at this date, if we may judge by their likeness to the work in the
Dawn and the Day. After the death of Clement the new Pope, Paul III.,
Farnese, sent for him and requested him to enter his service, as Condivi
tells us.(147) Paul III., in a brief dated September 1, 1535,(148)
appointed Michael Angelo chief architect, sculptor, and painter at the
Vatican; he became a member of the Pope's household, with a pension of
1200 golden crowns, raised on the revenue from a ferry across the river
Po, at Piacenza. This was so unremunerative, however, that it was
exchanged for a post on the Chancery at Rimini. And now the doors of the
Sistine Chapel once more close upon the master, not to be opened again
until the Christmas of 1541.

[Image #43]

THE DAY OF JUDGMENT

(_From a print in the British Museum_)

Michael Angelo had to destroy three frescoes by Perugino and two lunettes
of his own upon the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel for his new scheme.
He is said to have had the wall rebuilt of well-baked bricks, so possibly
the old frescoes had suffered from damp and dirt. Vasari says Fra
Sebastiano del Piombo prepared the wall for Michael Angelo, and secretly
had it grounded for oil painting, no doubt hoping himself to be employed
in the work, as oil was his special medium. Michael Angelo was very wroth
with his old friend for this, and declared that oil painting was an art
only fit for women and crazy fellows. We hear of no further intercourse
between Michael Angelo and the jovial frate. Vasari attributes their
coolness to this incident.

Hieronimo Staccoli wrote a letter in July 1537,(149) to the Duke of
Camerino, son and heir to the Duke of Urbino, about a salt-cellar designed
for him by Michael Angelo. This prince was afterwards a good friend to the
master, and his letter of September 7, 1539, informs us of the position of
affairs with regard to the Tomb of Julius during the progress of the large
painting in the Sistine:--

"DEAREST MESSER MICHAEL ANGELO,--It always has been, and now is,
more than ever our infinite desire, as