lost his last brother,
Gismondo. See also his admirable letter to Vasari, February 23, 1556.
[116] Letter of Michelangelo to Cornelia, March 28, 1557. He quarrelled
with Cornelia in 1559, when she married again, and wanted to take the
charge of the children from her, but their friendship was re-established
in 1561.
[117] He justified these accusations by his almost sordid manner of
living and constant complaints of poverty, although he was really rich.
A Denunzia de' beni, in 1534, before he had received anything from Paul
III, showed that he owned a house and three estates in Settignano, a
property at St. Stephano de Pozzolatico, two farms and a house at
Stradello, a farm at Rovezzano, three houses in the Via Ghibellina, one
house in the Via Mozza, etc. The inventory made after his death in Rome
showed seven or eight hundred gold crowns (worth about four to five
thousand francs) and Vasari tells us that he had twice given his nephew
Lionardo seven thousand crowns, beside two thousand to Urbino and sums
invested at Florence.
[118]
Now hath my life across a stormy sea
Like a frail bark reached that wide port where all
Are bidden....
(J. A. Symonds' translation.)
[119] The Pieta Rondanini.
[120] Gotti, Vol. II, p. 358.
[121] Besides these there were in the atelier in Florence in the Via
Mozza a number of blocks of marble and the beautiful statue of Victory
intended for the tomb of Julius II, and which in 1565 was taken to the
Palazzo Vecchio. Also Antonio del Franzese, Michelangelo's servant, who
was with him at the time of his death, gave to the Duke of Urbino in
1570 a statuette of Moses which his master had given to him.
[122] Gaye, "Carteggio inedito d'artisti," 1839, Vol. III, p. 131.
[123] The Florentine Academy of Painters had just been founded in 1563,
and Michelangelo had been unanimously chosen as a president together
with Cosmo de' Medici, January 31, 1563.
[124] The Duke was not there, Cellini was ill and could not come and
Francesco da San Gallo did not appear.
[125] Daniele da Volterra had offered to make a sketch for the tomb with
his assistant, Jacopo del Duca, but Vasari's jealousy prevented it.
Daniele died April 4, 1566, after having made rough models for three
busts of Michelangelo which Jacopo del Duca or Michele Alberti finished
after him.
[126] See the detailed account of the obsequies; "Esequie del divino
Michelangelo," Florence, G
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