A demigod in art. All learning and all knowledge came to Michael Angelo, perhaps even more than to Leonardo da Vinci, his mighty contemporary, as a rightful inheritance, to be magnificently accepted and sumptuously enjoyed. Poet, musician, sculptor, architect, engineer, painter, anatomist, man of science--his titles to renown are inexhaustible. His genius was universal, his grasp boundless. All his works, of whatever kind, bear the broad, deep stamp of his haughty, masculine spirit, and constitute the immortal expression of strength, energy, and sublimest passion. The feeling of Michael Angelo was strong, intense, grand, penetrating; his thought as clear as it was profound. His life is a series of conquests in the world of intellect. Domenico Ghirlandaio has the honour of claiming Buonarotti for his pupil. By Ghirlandaio the stripling was introduced to Lorenzo de’ Medici, who, as well as his successor, became the steady friend of the great artist. Upon the expulsion of the Medici, he went to Bologna, thence to Florence, and thence again, upon the invitation of the Pope, to Rome. In 1503, commissioned to paint one end of the great Hall of Council, Leonardo da Vinci being intrusted with the other. Never before had two such spirits met to contend for glory. His statue of Moses, and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, were produced under Pope Julius II. Under Leo X., and Adrian, works of equal power issued from his inspired brain. In 1546, he was commanded by the Pope to undertake the direction of the works at St. Peter’s. He consented only upon condition that he received no salary, and laboured “for the love of God alone.” For seventeen years he prosecuted the pious service, and raised the sacred edifice as far as the base of the cupola. The undying memorials of his chisel and pencil speak the intellectual supremacy of the man beyond all words of praise. They will command wonder, delight, admiration, respect, and awe, whilst the world lasts. There is nothing factitious, no studied allurement, no imposture in his work. It is all true, simple, sublime. Michael Angelo, in 1530, directed in person the defence of Florence, and erected its fortifications--which yet exist--when that city was besieged, and, after a year of heroic defence, taken by the army of Charles V. The fall of Florence, at this time, witnessed the last breath of Italian independence. Look on his face! You see many furrowed lines there, and a potent brow. The features and expression betray irascibility of temper, jealous self-consciousness, towering sense of power. Michael Angelo had all these. He was a lion aware of his strength. What if he used it as a lion, at times vehemently, and regardless of the pain inflicted upon others! He was also a staunch friend, disinterested, liberal, temperate, upright, conscientious. The ancients had their Titans. Michael Angelo too is the son of Heaven and Earth.