hich are
wont to afflict old men. The stone prevents me passing water. My loins
and back are so stiff that I often cannot climb upstairs. What makes
matters worse is that my mind is much worried with anxieties. If I
leave the conveniences I have here for my health, I can hardly live
three days. Yet I do not want to lose the favour of the Duke, nor
should I like to fail in my work at S. Peter's, nor in my duty to
myself. I pray God to help and counsel me; and if I were taken ill by
some dangerous fever, I would send for you at once."

Meanwhile, in spite of his resistance to the Duke's wishes,
Michelangelo did not lose the favour of the Medicean family. The
delicacy of behaviour by means of which he contrived to preserve and
strengthen it, is indeed one of the strongest evidences of his
sincerity, sagacity, and prudence. The Cardinal Giovanni, son of
Cosimo, travelled to Rome in March 1560, in order to be invested with
the purple by the Pope's hands. On this occasion Vasari, who rode in
the young prince's train, wrote despatches to Florence which contain
some interesting passages about Buonarroti. In one of them (March 29)
he says: "My friend Michelangelo is so old that I do not hope to
obtain much from him." Beside the reiterated overtures regarding a
return to Florence, the Church of the Florentines was now in progress,
and Cosimo also required Buonarroti's advice upon the decoration of
the Great Hall in the Palazzo della Signoria. In a second letter
(April 8) Vasari tells the Duke: "I reached Rome, and immediately
after the most reverend and illustrious Medici had made his entrance
and received the hat from our lord's hands, a ceremony which I wished
to see with a view to the frescoes in the Palace, I went to visit my
friend, the mighty Michelangelo. He had not expected me, and the
tenderness of his reception was such as old men show when lost sons
unexpectedly return to them. He fell upon my neck with a thousand
kisses, weeping for joy. He was so glad to see me, and I him, that I
have had no greater pleasure since I entered the service of your
Excellency, albeit I enjoy so many through your kindness. We talked
about the greatness and the wonders which our God in heaven has
wrought for you, and he lamented that he could not serve you with his
body, as he is ready to do with his talents at the least sign of your
will. He also expressed his sorrow at being unable to wait upon the
Cardinal, because he now can move about