ing of Christ in the clouds, is
that all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.

Those are the four great changes wrought by Michael Angelo. I repeat
them:

Ill work for good.
Tumult for Peace.
The Flesh of Man for his Spirit.
And the Curse of God for His blessing.

223. Hitherto, I have massed, necessarily, but most unjustly, Michael
Angelo and Tintoret together, because of their common relation to the
art of others. I shall now proceed to distinguish the qualities of their
own. And first as to the general temper of the two men.

Nearly every existing work by Michael Angelo is an attempt to execute
something beyond his power, coupled with a fevered desire that his power
may be acknowledged. He is always matching himself either against the
Greeks whom he cannot rival, or against rivals whom he cannot forget. He
is proud, yet not proud enough to be at peace; melancholy, yet not
deeply enough to be raised above petty pain; and strong beyond all his
companion workmen, yet never strong enough to command his temper, or
limit his aims.

Tintoret, on the contrary, works in the consciousness of supreme
strength, which cannot be wounded by neglect, and is only to be thwarted
by time and space. He knows precisely all that art can accomplish under
given conditions; determines absolutely how much of what can be done he
will himself for the moment choose to do; and fulfills his purpose with
as much ease as if, through his human body, were working the great
forces of nature. Not that he is ever satisfied with what he has done,
as vulgar and feeble artists are satisfied. He falls short of his ideal,
more than any other man; but not more than is necessary; and is content
to fall short of it to that degree, as he is content that his figures,
however well painted, do not move nor speak. He is also entirely
unconcerned respecting the satisfaction of the public. He neither cares
to display his strength to them, nor convey his ideas to them; when he
finishes his work, it is because he is in the humor to do so; and the
sketch which a meaner painter would have left incomplete to show how
cleverly it was begun, Tintoret simply leaves because he has done as
much of it as he likes.

224. Both Raphael and Michael Angelo are thus, in the most vital of all
points, separate from the great Venetian. They are always in dramatic
attitudes, and always appealing to the public for praise. They are the
leading athlet