man is
usually seen clothed, they reduced the size of the head when they showed
the nude figure.

But Michelangelo was true to Nature, and the severest criticism ever
brought against him is that he is absolutely loyal to truth. He was the
first man ever to paint or model the slim, slender form of a child that
has left its round baby shape behind and is shooting up like a
lily-stalk. A nude, hardy boy six years old reveals ankle-bones, kneecap,
sharp hips, ribs, collar-bone and shoulder-blade with startling fidelity.
And why, being Nature's work, it is any less lovely than a condition of
soft, cushioned adipose, we must let the critics tell, but Michelangelo
thought it wasn't.

From Fourteen Hundred Ninety-six, when Michelangelo first arrived in
Rome, to Fifteen Hundred Four, he worked at nothing but sculpture. But
now a change came over his restless spirit, for an invitation had come
from the Gonfaloniere of Florence to decorate one of the rooms of the
Town Hall, in competition with Leonardo da Vinci--the only Leonardo.

He painted that strong composition showing Florentine soldiers bathing in
the Arno. The scene depicts the surprise of the warriors as a trumpet
sounds, calling them to battle with the enemy that is near at hand. The
subject was chosen because it gave opportunity for exploiting the
artist's marvelous knowledge of anatomy. Thirty figures are shown in
various attitudes. Nearly all are nude, and as they scramble up the bank,
buckling on their armor as they rush forward, eager for the fight, we see
the wild, splendid swell of muscle and warm, tense, pulsing flesh. As an
example of Michelangelo's consummate knowledge of form it was believed to
be his finest work.

But it did not last long; the jealous Bandinelli made a strong bid for
fame by destroying it. And thus do Bandinelli and Torrigiano go
clattering down the corridors of time hand in hand. Yet we know what the
picture was, for various men who saw it recorded their impressions; but
although many of the younger artists of Italy flocked to Florence to see
it, and many copied it, only one copy has come down to us--the one in the
collection of the Earl of Leicester, at Holkham.

So even beautiful Florence could not treat her gifted son with
impartiality, and when a call came from Pope Julius the Second, who had
been elected in Fifteen Hundred Three, to return to Rome, the summons was
promptly obeyed.

* * * * *

Juli