rected the pointing of his own cannon against
the town.

His successor, Leo, who was of the Florentine family of Medici,[92] was
fond of elegant pleasures and of hunting. His tastes were costly, and
continually brought him into difficulties as to money. The manner of
life in Leo's court was gay, luxurious, and far from strict. He had
comedies acted before him, which were hardly fit for the amusement of
the chief bishop of Christendom. He is famous for his encouragement of
the arts; and it was in his time that the art of painting reached its
highest perfection through the genius of Michael Angelo Buonarotti (who
has been already mentioned as a disciple of Savonarola)[93] and of
Raphael Sanzio. In the art of architecture a great change took place
about this time. For some hundreds of years it had been usual to build
in what is called the _Gothic_ style, of which the chief mark is the use
of pointed arches. Not that there was no change during all that time;
for there are great differences between the earlier and the later kinds
of Gothic, and these have since been so carefully studied that skilful
people can tell from the look of a building the time at which every part
of it was erected. But a little before the year 1500, the Gothic gave
way to another style, and one of the greatest works ever done in this
new style was the vast church of St. Peter, at Rome. I have mentioned
that Nicolas V. thought of rebuilding the ancient church, which had
stood since the time of Constantine the Great, and that he had even
begun the work.[94] But now both the old basilica[95] and the beginning
of a new church which Nicolas had made were swept away, and something
far grander was designed. There were several architects who carried on
the building of this great church, one after another; but the grand dome
of St. Peter's, which rises into the air over the whole city, was the
work of Michael Angelo, who was not only a painter, but an architect and
a sculptor. It was by offering indulgences (or spiritual favours,
forgiveness of sins, and the like) as a reward for gifts towards the new
St. Peter's, that Julius raised the anger and disgust of the German
reformer, Martin Luther. And thus it was the building of the most
magnificent of Roman churches that led to the revolt which took away
from the popes a great part of their spiritual dominion.

[92] See page 272.

[93] Page 274.

[94] See p. 269.

[95] See Part I., p. 85.

CHAPTER X