ses,[24] either because they have fallen down or
because they very soon would have done so. Bramante realised that
Michelangelo would have discovered his mistakes, and so he always tried
to keep him away from Rome and to deprive him of the pope's favour and
of the influence which he had gained over the pope by his works. For it
is clear that if the tomb of Julius II had been actually undertaken
Michelangelo would have stood out supreme over all other artists,
however famous they might be, for he would then have had a vast field
in which to show what he could do."

Bramante succeeded. In January, 1506, Julius II ordered the
reconstruction of St. Peter's. The tomb was abandoned and Michelangelo
was not only humiliated and disappointed, but in debt, according to what
he says himself:

"When the pope changed his mind and the boats arrived with the marble
from Carrara I had to pay the charge of transport myself. And as at this
same time the stone-cutters who had come from Florence for the tomb also
arrived at Rome and I had had the house which Julius had given me behind
S. Caterina prepared for them, I found myself without money and greatly
embarrassed. I urged the pope as strongly as I could to continue the
construction of the tomb and then one morning when I wished to talk with
him about it he had me put out by a groom."

Then it was that the famous flight to Florence took place. Michelangelo,
outraged by this affront, took horse and fled from Rome and refused to
return in spite of the messengers which the pope sent after him. The
indignity of the affront was not, by his own account, the only reason
for his flight. In a letter to Giuliano da San Gallo he implies that his
life was in danger from Bramante's threats.

[Illustration: THE ALMIGHTY CREATING THE SUN AND THE MOON

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508-1512).]

"That was not the only reason for my leaving. There was still another
which I would rather not speak about. It is enough to say that it made
me think that if I stayed in Rome that town would more likely be my tomb
than that of the pope. And that was the reason for my sudden departure."

Nothing justifies us in believing that Bramante had thought of having
recourse to a crime, but it was enough that Michelangelo believed him to
be capable of it and, in one of those accesses of sudden terror which
contrast so strangely with the stubborn boldness of his genius, he ran
away. Moreover, Bramante understood pe