hrow to the ground everything that they had done.
Then, shutting himself up in the chapel, he would never open to them,
nor even allowed himself to be seen by them when he was at home. And
so, when the jest appeared to them to be going too far, they resigned
themselves to it and returned in shame to Florence. Thereupon
Michelagnolo, having made arrangements to paint the whole work by
himself, carried it well on the way to completion with the utmost
solicitude, labour, and study; nor would he ever let himself be seen,
lest he should give any occasion to compel him to show it, so that the
desire in the minds of everyone to see it grew greater every day.

Pope Julius was always very desirous to see any undertakings that he
was having carried out, and therefore became more eager than ever to
see this one, which was hidden from him. And so one day he resolved to
go to see it, but was not admitted, for Michelagnolo would never have
consented to show it to him; out of which affair arose the quarrel
that has been described, when he had to depart from Rome because he
would not show his work to the Pope. Now, when a third of the work was
finished (as I ascertained from him in order to clear up all doubts),
it began to throw out certain spots of mould, one winter that the
north wind was blowing. The reason of this was that the Roman lime,
which is made of travertine and white in colour, does not dry very
readily, and, when mixed with pozzolana, which is of a tawny colour,
makes a dark mixture which, when soft, is very watery; and when the
wall has been well soaked, it often breaks out into an efflorescence
in the drying; and thus this salt efflorescence of moisture came out
in many places, but in time the air consumed it. Michelagnolo was in
despair over this, and was unwilling to continue the work, asking the
Pope to excuse him, since he was not succeeding; but his Holiness sent
Giuliano da San Gallo to see him, and he, having told him whence the
defect arose and taught him how to remove the spots of mould,
encouraged him to persevere.

Now, when he had finished half of it, the Pope, who had subsequently
gone to see it several times (mounting certain ladders with the
assistance of Michelagnolo), insisted that it should be thrown open,
for he was hasty and impatient by nature, and could not wait for it to
be completely finished and to receive, as the saying is, the final
touch. No sooner was it thrown open than all Rome was drawn