s it stands near
a column in the centre of the church in a subdued light it has a presence
of great beauty and sweetness, never allied with so much power before,
notwithstanding that brazen draperies and a sandal hide much of the
reverent workmanship.

CHAPTER VIII

THE SACRISTY OF SAN LORENZO

After the death of Leo X., on December 1, 1521, Adrian IV. was elected to
fill the seat of St. Peter. He was not an Italian and loved not the arts.
He is recorded to have called statues "idols of the Pagans," and he spent
no money on pictures or frescoes. No wonder the artists who were
accustomed to the patronage of the Popes rejoiced when he died,
notwithstanding his goodness, and hailed his physician as saviour of the
Fatherland. The Cardinal Giuliano de' Medici was elected in his stead,
under the name of Clement VII., and Michael Angelo expressed the feelings
of most of his countrymen and all the artists when he wrote to his friend,
Topolino, at Carrara "You will have heard how the Medici is made Pope; it
seems to me that all the world is glad of it, so I imagine that here
(Florence) many things will soon be set going in art. Therefore, serve
well and with faithfulness, so that we may have honour."(127)

[Image #35]

THE TOMB OF LORENZO DE' MEDICI, DUKE OF URBINO

THE NEW SACRISTY, SAN LORENZO, FLORENCE
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari, Florence_)

In the year 1523 the Senate of Genoa banked 300 ducats towards the
expenses of a colossal statue of Andrea Doria, the great sea-captain, to
be carved by Michael Angelo. Unfortunately Michael Angelo was unable to
execute this congenial task. There is a magnificent portrait of this
prince, as Neptune, by Sebastiano del Piombo in the private rooms of the
Doria Palace at Rome. The admiral points down with Michael Angelesque
forefinger as though he were condemning his enemies to descend to the
lowest depths of the sea. It looks as if it had been inspired by a drawing
of Michael Angelo's, possibly for this statue, which may have been
designed as a nude figure of Neptune; the parapet in front of the picture
is decorated with a painted bas-relief of a Roman galley.

Michael Angelo's last known letter to his father is supposed to have been
written in June 1523.(128) It is a bitter complaint of the testy manner in
which his father always treated him, and the continual int