oney of Clement VII as long as he had not
yet either given back that of Julius II or carried out his promises. But
struggle as he would he lacked strength to free himself from the ties
which bound him to the pope, and necessity forced him to take the
pension which he had refused. He continued to protest while he worked.
By the end of October, 1525, he had only blocked out four figures, the
allegories of the seasons. He was always thinking of the monument of
Julius II and he tried to simplify his plan by changing it to a tomb
built against the wall, like those of Pius II and Pius III at St.
Peter's. He felt that he could finish the figures within a stated time
and then give to Pope Clement all the rest of his powers, "and in truth
they are feeble, for I am old and ought not to have all these worries,
for they affect me greatly. You can not work while your hands are doing
one thing and your head another, especially in sculpture."[41]

Clement VII seemed at times to be touched by Michelangelo's troubles and
expressed an affectionate interest in him and his work. He sent him a
letter on December 23, 1525, in which he said:

"You know that popes do not have long lives and we could not long more
ardently than we do to see the chapel with the tombs of our family and
to know that it is finished and also the Library. We recommend them both
to your zeal. Nevertheless we are trying to possess ourselves in
salutary patience and we pray God that He may inspire you to carry on
all these works at once. Do not fear that you will ever lack either work
or rewards as long as we live. Go on with God and our blessing."

But the incurable frivolity of the Medici regained the upper hand, and
instead of relieving Michelangelo of part of his work he laid new
burdens on him; a Ciborium for S. Lorenzo and a ridiculous Colossus
which it was proposed to put up outside the Medici gardens, the
fantastic plans for which took up much of Michelangelo's time.[42]

It is sad to see this poor great man trying so hard to understand the
absurd whims of his Maecenas that he ends by almost becoming interested
in them.

"I have thought about the Colossus," he writes to Fattucci in the autumn
of 1525; "I have indeed thought a great deal about it. It seems to me
that it would not be well placed outside the Medici gardens because it
would take up too much room in the street. A better place, I think,
would be where the barber's shop is. There it would not be so