The Life of Michelangelo BuonarrotiSymonds, John Addington
History
The Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti
Symonds, John Addington
Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564
The year 1520 was one of much importance for Michelangelo. A _Ricordo_
dated March 10 gives a brief account of the last four years, winding
up with the notice that "Pope Leo, perhaps because he wants to get the
façade at S. Lorenzo finished quicker than according to the contract
made with me, and I also consenting thereto, sets me free ... and so
he leaves me at liberty, under no obligation of accounting to any one
for anything which I have had to do with him or others upon his
account." It appears from the draft of a letter without date that some
altercation between Michelangelo and the Medici preceded this rupture.
He had been withdrawn from Serravezza to Florence in order that he
might plan the new buildings at S. Lorenzo; and the workmen of the
Opera del Duomo continued the quarrying business in his absence.
Marbles which he had excavated for S. Lorenzo were granted by the
Cardinal de' Medici to the custodians of the cathedral, and no attempt
was made to settle accounts. Michelangelo's indignation was roused by
this indifference to his interests, and he complains in terms of
extreme bitterness. Then he sums up all that he has lost, in addition
to expected profits. "I do not reckon the wooden model for the said
façade, which I made and sent to Rome; I do not reckon the period of
three years wasted in this work; I do not reckon that I have been
ruined (in health and strength perhaps) by the undertaking; I do not
reckon the enormous insult put on me by being brought here to do the
work, and then seeing it taken away from me, and for what reason I
have not yet learned; I do not reckon my house in Rome, which I left,
and where marbles, furniture and blocked-out statues have suffered to
upwards of 500 ducats. Omitting all these matters, out of the 2300
ducats I received, only 500 remain in my hands."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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