e mighty design of Michael Angelo's early years of enthusiasm dwindled
down to the Moses, but what a height above other men's biggest designs is
this single figure! The Cardinal was right who said the statue of Moses
alone was a sufficient memorial of Julius. In a letter to Salvestro da
Montauto, of February 3, 1545(153), Michael Angelo says that the Duke of
Urbino ratified the deed, and the five statues were given to Raffaello da
Montelupo to be carved. "Of these five statues my Lord the Pope having at
my earnest prayer and for my satisfaction conceded to me a little time, I
finished two of them with my own hand, that is to say, the Contemplative
Life and the Active Life for the same sum that the said Raffaello was to
have had." From the works themselves we may be sure that there is a good
deal of Raffaello da Montelupo about these figures all the same.
Notwithstanding all this evidence of the desire of Michael Angelo to carry
out his contract, we have a letter(154) from Annibale Caro to Antonio
Gallo as late as 1553 entreating him to plead with the Duke of Urbino for
Michael Angelo. "I assure you that the extreme distress caused him by
being in disgrace with his Excellency is sufficient to bring his grey hair
with sorrow to the grave before his time."

In the finished work there are statues not yet accounted for, that is to
say, the recumbent portrait of the Pope which was executed by Maso del
Bosco, the coat of arms of the Della Rovere by Battista Benti of Pietra
Santa, and the terminal figures by Giacomo del Duca. The greatest drawback
to the effect of the whole is the change in the architectural treatment
and decorations. The lower part belongs to the period when the work was
begun in 1505, and the upper, with no transition but a joint in the stone,
to the heavier and coarser style of the period when it was finished, 1545.
The jointing and the masonry generally are not of a satisfactory
character,(155) and Michael Angelo's assistants cannot be congratulated
upon the way they did their share of the work. With the exception of the
figures of Active and Contemplative Life, the work of the assistants would
be better away.

The two bound captives which were too big for the altered monument are now
the glory of the Italian sculpture galleries of the Louvre. They were
presented by Michael Angelo to Roberto degli Strozzi, because, when the
sculptor was ill in 1544, Luigi del Riccio, his friend, nursed him and
looked after