who ask you to do so, but confining yourself to the painting
of a single work during all your life as you have done,"

"Madam," said Michael, "perchance you attribute to me more than I deserve;
but in doing so you remind me that I wish to make a complaint against many
persons, on my own behalf and on behalf of painters of my temperament, and
also on behalf of M. Francisco here.

"There are many persons who maintain a thousand lies, and one is that
eminent painters are eccentric and that their conversation is intolerable
and harsh, they are only human all the while, and thus fools and
unreasonable persons consider them fantastic and fanciful, allowing them
with much difficulty the conditions necessary to a painter. It is quite
true that such conditions are only necessary where there is a real
painter, which is in very few places, as in Italy, where there is the
perfection of all things; but foolish, idle persons are unreasonable in
expecting so many compliments from a busy man: few mortals fulfil their
duty well, one who does will not accuse another who is fulfilling his;
painters are not in any way unsociable through pride, but either because
they find few pursuits equal to painting, or in order not to corrupt
themselves with the useless conversation of idle people, and debase the
intellect from the lofty imaginations in which they are always absorbed.
And I affirm to your Excellency that even his Holiness annoys and wearies
me when at times he talks to me and asks me somewhat roughly why do I not
come to see him, for I believe that I serve him better in not going when
he asks me, little needing me, when I wish to work for him in my house;
and I tell him that, as M. Angelo, I serve him more thus than by standing
before him all day, as others do,"

"Oh, happy M. Angelo," said I at this stage, "my prince is not a Pope, can
he forgive me such a sin?"

"Such sins, M. Francisco, are just those which kings pardon," said he, and
added: "Sometimes, I may tell you, my important duties have given me so
much licence that when, as I am talking to the Pope, I put this old felt
hat non-chalantly on my head, and talk to him very frankly, but even for
that he does not kill me; on the contrary, he has given me a
livelihood.(187) And as I say, I have paid him more compliments in his
service than unnecessary ones to his person. If perchance a man were so
blind as to invent such an unprofitable exchange, as it is for a man to
separate