gnolo, as has been said elsewhere, gave his attention only to
the perfection of art, and therefore there are no landscapes to be
seen there, nor trees, nor buildings, nor any other distracting graces
of art, for to these he never applied himself, as one, perchance, who
would not abase his great genius to such things. These, executed by
him at the age of seventy-five, were his last pictures, and, as he
used himself to tell me, they cost him much fatigue, for the reason
that painting, and particularly working in fresco, is no art for men
who have passed a certain age. Michelagnolo arranged that Perino del
Vaga, a very excellent painter, should decorate the vaulting with
stucco and with many things in painting, after his designs, and such,
also, was the wish of Pope Paul III; but the work was afterwards
delayed, and nothing more was done, even as many undertakings are left
unfinished, partly by the fault of want of resolution in the
craftsmen, and partly by that of Princes little zealous in urging
them on.

Pope Paul had made a beginning with the fortifying of the Borgo, and
had summoned many gentlemen, together with Antonio da San Gallo, to a
conference; but he wished that Michelagnolo also should have a part in
this, knowing that the fortifications about the hill of S. Miniato in
Florence had been constructed under his direction. After much
discussion, Michelagnolo was asked what he thought; and he, having
opinions contrary to San Gallo and many others, declared them freely.
Whereupon San Gallo said to him that his arts were sculpture and
painting, and not fortification. Michelagnolo replied that of
sculpture and painting he knew little, but of fortification, what with
the thought that he had devoted to it for a long time, and his
experience in what he had done, it appeared to him that he knew more
than either Antonio or any of his family; showing him in the presence
of the company that he had made many errors in that art. Words rising
high on either side, the Pope had to command silence; but no long time
passed before Michelagnolo brought a design for all the fortifications
of the Borgo, which laid open the way for all that has since been
ordained and executed; and this was the reason that the great gate of
S. Spirito, which was approaching completion under the direction of
San Gallo, was left unfinished.

[Illustration: PIETA

(_After =Michelagnolo=. Florence: Duomo_)

_Alinari_]

The spirit and genius of Michel