Part 1 (2/2)

IV

Lodovico perceived at length that it was useless to oppose his son's natural bent Accordingly, he sent him into Ghirlandajo's workshop A ives infor the terms of the apprenticeshi+p ”I record this first of April how I, Lodovico di Lionardo di Buonarrota, bind elo to Domenico and Davit di To years, under these conditions and contracts: to wit, that the said Michelangelo shall stay with the above-na, and to practise the same, and to be at the orders of the above-naive to him in the course of these three years twenty-four florins (_fiorini di suggello_): to wit, six florins in the first year, eight in the second, ten in the third;in all the sum of ninety-six pounds (_lire_)” A postscript, dated April 16th of the saelo upon that day

It seeelo retained no very pleasant memory of his sojourn with the Ghirlandajo brothers Condivi, in the passage translated above, hints that Domenico was jealous of him He proceeds as follows: ”This jealousy betrayed itself still ed the loan of a certain sketch-book, wherein Dos, landscapes, buildings, ruins, and such-like things Thesomewhat envious; for not only showed he thus scant courtesy toward Michelangelo, but he also treated his brother likewise, sending hiress and putting forth great pro this not so ht hiht fit to s, because I have been told that Doenius and divinity of Michelangelo in great part to his father's teaching, whereas the truth is that he received no assistance froelo does not complain: on the contrary, he praises Doe irritated Vasari beyond elo in 1550 Condivi published his own raphy in 1553, with the expressed intention of correcting errors and supplying deficiencies ue word he pointed probably at Vasari Michelangelo, who furnished Condivi with materials, died in 1564; and Vasari, in 1568, issued a second enlarged edition of the Life, into which he cynically incorporated what he chose to steal fro dead and buried, Vasari felt that he was safe in giving the lie direct to this huly, he spoke as follows about Michelangelo's relations with Doe when he entered that master's service, and inasraphy after 1550, when I had published these Lives for the first time, declares that certain persons, fros that did not happen, and have omitted others worthy of relation; and in particular has touched upon the point at issue, accusing Doelo assistance”--Here Vasari, out of breath with indignation, appeals to the record of Lodovico's contract with the Ghirlandajo brothers ”These er, in order to show that everything I formerly published, or which will be published at the present tireater faelo than I had, or who served him more faithfully in friendly offices; nor do I believe that a single er nureater personal affection, than I can”

This contention between Condivi and Vasari, our two conteelo's life, rapher after the lapse of four centuries Yet the first steps in the art-career of so exceptional a genius possess peculiar interest It is not insignificant to ascertain, so far as now is possible, what Michelangelo owed to his teachers In equity, we acknowledge that Lodovico's record on the ledger of the Ghirlandajo brothers proves their willingness to take him as a prentice, and their payment to him of two florins in advance; but the same record does not disprove Condivi's statement, derived from his old master's reminiscences, to the effect that Doreatly serviceable to him as an instructor

The fault, in all probability, did not lie with Ghirlandajo alone

Michelangelo, as we shall have occasions in plenty to observe, was difficult to live with; frank in speech to the point of rudeness, ready with criticis his temper, and at no time apt to work harmoniously with fellow-craftsenius made themselves felt, undoubtedly, at the very outset of his career; and Ghirlandajopositively jealous of the young eagle settled in his hoh-natured child of promise Beethoven's discontent with Haydn as a teacher offers a parallel; and syy will perceive that Ghirlandajo and Haydn were al of phenoelo and Beethoven

Vasari, passing froossip of the studio, has sketched a pleasant picture of the young Buonarroti in his master's eelo developed so rapidly that Dons of power in him beyond the ordinary scope of youth He perceived, in short, that he not only surpassed the other students, of whoe number under his tuition, but also that he often competed on an equality with theof soelo took up the paper, and with a broader nib corrected the outline of a fe it into perfect truth to life Wonderful it was to see the difference of the two styles, and to note the judgment and ability of a e to chastise hisI now preserve as a precious relique, since it was given inal Designs, together with others presented to elo In the year 1550, when I was in Ronised it i modestly that he knew e

”It happened then that Doreat Chapel of S Maria Novella; and being absent one day, Michelangelo set hi, with some easels and all the appurtenances of the art, and a few of the young , he exclaimed: 'This fellos more about it than I do,' and remained quite stupefied by the new style and the new method of iift fro his apprenticeshi+p to Ghirlandajo, Michelangelo de perfect copies of ancient drawings, executing the facsi the paper so as to pass it off as the original of some old master ”His only object,”

adds Vasari, ”was to keep the originals, by giving copies in exchange; seeing that he adht to surpass thereat renown”

We may pause to doubt whether at the present time--in the case, for instance, of Shelley letters or Rossetti drawings--clever forgeries would be accepted as so virtuous and laudable But it ought to be remembered that a Florentine workshop at that period contained ns, all of which were le specih an to expire in Italy, when Vasari published his extensive necrology and fors, that property in a sketch becaelo's oork at this early period we possess probably nothing except a rough scrawl on the plaster of a wall at Settignano

Even this does not exist in its original state The Satyr which is still shown there estion, be a _rifacimento_ from the master's hand at a subsequent period of his career

V

Condivi and Vasari differ considerably in their accounts of Michelangelo's departure from Ghirlandajo's workshop The for and now another, without fixed place or steady line of study, happened one day to be taken by Granacci into the garden of the Medici at San Marco, which garden the nificent Lorenzo, father of Pope Leo, and a man of the first intellectual distinction, had adorned with antique statues and other reliques of plastic art When Michelangelo saw these things and felt their beauty, he no longer frequented Do the Medicean gardens to be the best school, spent all his ti there” Vasari reports that it was Lorenzo's wish to raise the art of sculpture in Florence to the sa; and for this reason he placed Bertoldo, a pupil and follower of Donatello, over his collections, with a special coan acadeed him to select fro

Ghirlandajo accordingly drafted off Francesco Granacci and Michelangelo Buonarroti Since Michelangelo had been formally articled by his father to Ghirlandajo in 1488, he can hardly have left that master in 1489 as unceremoniously as Condivi asserts Therefore we may, I think, assuenuine tradition

Having first studied the art of design and learned to work in colours under the supervision of Ghirlandajo, Michelangelo now had his native genius directed to sculpture He began with the rudined for the Library of San Lorenzo, and acquiring that practical skill in the h his life Condivi and Vasari agree in relating that a copy he made for his own aht hied a piece of refusewhen the Medici passed by The great nised its eniality: ”Oh, you have made this Faun quite old, and yet have left hie are alanting in one or two?”

Michelangelo took the hint, and knocked a tooth out from the upper jaw When Lorenzo sa cleverly he had performed the task, he resolved to provide for the boy's future and to take hi heard whose son he was, ”Go,” he said, ”and tell your father that I wish to speak with hi Faun ello at Florence, and the elo It does not exactly correspond to the account given by Condivi and Vasari; for the e tusk-like teeth, with the tip of the tongue protruding between them Still, there is no reason to feel certain that we elo's first extant work in ly went honificent His father, guessing probably what he anted for, could only be persuaded by the urgent prayers of Granacci and other friends to obey the summons Indeed, he complained loudly that Lorenzo wanted to lead his son astray, abiding firmly by the principle that he would never permit a son of his to be a stonecutter Vainly did Granacci explain the difference between a sculptor and a stone-cutter: all his arguments seemed throay Nevertheless, when Lodovico appeared before the Magnificent, and was asked if he would consent to give his son up to the great uardianshi+p, he did not kno to refuse 'In faith,' he added, 'not Michelangelo alone, but all of us, with our lives and all our abilities, are at the pleasure of your Magnificence!' When Lorenzo asked what he desired as a favour to himself, he answered: 'I have never practised any art or trade, but have lived thus far uponto the little property in land which has come down from my ancestors; and it has been my care not only to preserve these estates, but to increase thenificent then added: 'Well, look about, and see if there be anything in Florence which will suit you Make use of me, for I will do the utmost that I can for you' It so happened that a place in the Customs, which could only be filled by a Florentine citizen, fell vacant shortly afterwards Upon this Lodovico returned to the Magnificent, and begged for it in these words: 'Lorenzo, I a Now, thedied, I should like to enter into this office, feeling nificent laid his hand upon his shoulder, and said with a smile: 'You will always be a poorfar more valuable Then he added: 'If you care to be the mate of Marco, you can take the post, until such tiht crowns the month, a little more or a little less” A document is extant which shows that Lodovico continued to fill this office at the Customs till 1494, when the heirs of Lorenzo were exiled; for in the year 1512, after the Medici returned to Florence, he applied to Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, to be reinstated in the saelo quitted Ghirlandajo in 1489, and if Condivi is right in saying that he only lived in the Casa Medici for about two years before the death of Lorenzo, April 1492, then he ardens at San Marco before the Faun's mask called attention to his talents His whole connection with Lorenzo, fro of 1492, lasted three years; and, since he was born in March 1475, the space of his life covered by this patronage extended from the cohteenth year

These three years were decisive for the developenius It is not necessary to enlarge here upon Lorenzo de' Medici's merits and deure in the history of the Italian Renaissance These have supplied stock topics for discussion by all writers who have devoted their attention to that period of culture Still we es under the roof of one as not only great as diploe, but was also a enius in literature, of fine taste in criticism, and of civil urbanity in manners The palace of the Medici for the number and value of its art treasures--bas-reliefs, vases, coins, engraved stones, paintings by the best contemporary masters, statues in bronze and marble by Verocchio and Donatello Its library contained the costliest manuscripts, collected frouests who assembled in its halls were leaders in that intellectual movement which was destined to spread a new type of culture far and wide over the globe The young sculptor sat at the same board as Marsilio Ficino, interpreter of Plato; Pico della Mirandola, the phoenix of Oriental erudition; Angelo Poliziano, the unrivalled hui Pulci, the humorous inventor of burlesque romance--with artists, scholars, students innu a youth's curiosity, by explaining to him the particular virtues of books discussed, or of antique works of art inspected During those halcyon years, before the invasion of Charles VIII, it seeht last unbroken No one foresaw the apocalyptic vials of wrath which were about to be poured forth upon her plains and cities through the next half-century Rarely, at any period of the world's history, perhaps only in Athens between the Persian and the Peloponnesian wars, has culture, in the highest and best sense of that word, prospered ently and pacifically than it did in the Florence of Lorenzo, through the co-operation and mutual zeal ofin diverse though cognate fields of study and production

Michelangelo's position in the house was that of an honoured guest or adopted son Lorenzo not only allowed hiether with clothes befitting his station, but he also, says Condivi, ”appointed hiether with all the conveniences he desired, treating him in every respect, as also at his table, precisely like one of his own sons It was the custohest public rank asseuests to take their places next the master in the order of their arrival; those ere present at the beginning of the nificent, not ht appear So it happened that Michelangelo found himself frequently seated above Lorenzo's children and other persons of great consequence, hom that house continually flourished and abounded

All these illustrious ed him in the honourable art which he had chosen But the chief to do so was the Magnificent himself, who sent for hiht show hireat rarity, as knowing his” It does not appear that Michelangelo had any duties to perform or services to render Probably his patron eested by Condivi But the main business of his life in the Casa Medici was to make himself a valiant sculptor, who in after years should confer lustre on the city of the lily and her Mediceanthis period seems to have become his own property, for two pieces of statuary, presently to be described, remained in the possession of his family, and now form a part of the collection in the Casa Buonarroti

VI

Angelo Poliziano, as certainly the chief scholar of his age in the new learning, and no less certainly one of its truest poets in the vulgar language, lived as tutor to Lorenzo's children in the palace of the Medici at Florence Benozzo Gozzoli introduced his portrait, together with the portraits of his noble pupils, in a fresco of the Pisan Caelo to treat in bas-relief an antique fable, involving the strife of young heroes for some woman's person Probably he was also able to point out classical exauided in the undertaking The subject e of the nude Adult and youthful figures, in attitudes of vehement attack and resistance, had to be modelled; and the conditions of the ht into harorously with these difficulties He produced a hich, though it is iht the specific qualities of his inherent art-capacity The bas-relief, still preserved in the Casa Buonarroti at Florence, is, so to speak, in fermentation with powerful half-realised conceptions, audacities of foreshortening, atte, violent dramatic action and expression No previous tradition, unless it was the genius of Greek or Greco-Roelo with the motive force for this prentice-piece in sculpture Donatello and other Florentines worked under different syularity in their treat to literal transcripts froelo discarded these limitations, and showed himself an ardent student of reality in the service of so Nature, he was also sensitive to the light and guidance of the classic genius Yet, at the saenius, displaying his Tuscan proclivities by violent draestions, and in loaded, overco essay, the horoscope of the htiest Florentine artist was already cast Nature leads him, and he follows Nature as his own star bids But that star is double, blending classic influence with Tuscan instinct The roof of the Sistine was destined to exhibit to an awe-struck world ealths of originality lay in the artist thus gifted, and thus swayed by rival forces For the present, it eoh for its length, Michelangelo revealed irouping of the figures, which is more pictorial than sculpturesque, he already betrayed, what reanic or syidly subordinated to architectural fralio_

Vasarito this period, which, froned earlier than the Centaurs It is a seated Madonna with the Infant Jesus, conceived in the manner of Donatello, but without that master's force and power over the lines of drapery Except for the interest attaching to it as an early work of Michelangelo, this piece would not attract race and composition above the scope of Donatello; and certainly wemajesty which Buonarroti was destined to develop in his Pieta of S Peter, the Madonna at Bruges, and the evenfor the realistic introduction of a Tuscan cottage staircase into the background This bas-relief was presented to Cosielo's nephew Lionardo It afterwards came back into the possession of the Buonarroti family, and forms at present an ornament of their house at Florence