nspired by the grand remains of
antiquity, pursued his studies with unceasing energy; he produced a
statue of Bacchus, which added to his reputation; and in 1500, at the
age of five-and-twenty, he produced the famous group of the dead
Christ on the knees of his Virgin Mother (called the "Pieta"), which
is now in the church of St. Peter's, at Rome; this last being
frequently copied and imitated, obtained him so much applause and
reputation, that he was recalled to Florence, to undertake several
public works, and we find him once more established in his native city
in the year 1502.

In 1506 Michael Angelo was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II., who,
while living, had conceived the idea of erecting a most splendid
monument to perpetuate his memory. For this work, which was never
completed, Michael Angelo executed the famous statue of Moses, seated,
grasping his flowing beard with one hand, and with the other
sustaining the tables of the Law. While employed on this tomb, the
pope commanded him to undertake also the decoration of the ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel. Pope Sixtus IV. had, in the year 1473, erected
this famous chapel, and summoned the best painters of that time,
Signorelli, Cosimo Roselli, Perugino, and Ghirlandajo, to decorate the
interior; but down to the year 1508 the ceiling remained without any
ornament; and Michael Angelo was called upon to cover this enormous
vault, a space of one hundred and fifty feet in length by fifty in
breadth, with a series of subjects representing the most important
events connected, either literally or typically, with the fall and
redemption of mankind.

No part of Michael Angelo's long life is so interesting, so full of
characteristic incident, as the history of his intercourse with Pope
Julius II., which began in 1505, and ended only with the death of the
pope in 1513.

Michael Angelo had at all times a lofty idea of his own dignity as an
artist, and never would stoop either to flatter a patron or to
conciliate a rival. Julius II., though now seventy-four, was as
impatient of contradiction as fiery in temper, as full of magnificent
and ambitious projects as if he had been in the prime of life; in his
service was the famous architect, Bramante, who beheld with jealousy
and alarm the increasing fame of Michael Angelo, and his influence
with the pontiff, and set himself by indirect means to lessen both. He
insinuated to Julius that it was ominous to erect his own mausoleum
d