eal with him and he has often said to me that he would not undertake
the chapel which you wished to entrust to him. He asks to be allowed
with your permission to devote himself entirely to sculpture, for he
wants to have nothing to do with painting.' He added, 'Holy Father, I do
not think he has the courage to undertake the work, for he has had
little experience in the painting of figures, and these must be painted
on the ceiling and foreshortened, which is very different from painting
on the ground.' The pope answered, 'If he does not come he will be
treating me badly, and for that reason I think he will return.' I threw
myself into the conversation and there in the pope's presence replied
properly to that fellow and spoke for you as you would surely have
spoken for me. Bramante remained silent, realising that he had made a
mistake in saying what he had. I went on in these words: 'Holy Father,
that man has never exchanged a word with Michelangelo, and if what he
says is true you can cut my head off. He has never talked with him, and
I am sure that Michelangelo will come back if Your Holiness wishes it.'"
When Michelangelo returned Bramante changed his tactics. As
Michelangelo's friends had imprudently asserted that he could accomplish
this task for which, as Bramante knew better than any one else, he was
entirely unprepared, Bramante pretended to believe this and forced his
rival into a position where he had to accept the commission. A failure
would have been particularly serious to Michelangelo just then since in
that same year, 1508, Raphael began his incomparable painting of the
Stanze and Michelangelo had either to surpass him or be entirely
eclipsed. This at least is what Condivi asserts.

[Illustration: THE CREATION OF MAN

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

Bramante and his other rivals suggested to the pope to make Michelangelo
paint the ceiling of the chapel of Pope Sixtus IV by persuading him that
he would do marvels there. They did him this service maliciously to
distract the pope from any plan for sculpture and because they thought
that Michelangelo would either refuse the commission and quarrel with
the pope or that he would accept it and be less successful than Raphael,
for they considered that Michelangelo's talent was for sculpture, which
indeed was true. Michelangelo, who until then had not worked in colours
and who knew how difficult it is to paint a ceiling, tried in every way
to extricat