When he heard this, our artist, who feared the Pope's fury, and with

good cause, instantly removed the scaffolding without retouching the

painting a secco [on dry plaster], as the older masters had done. He had

wanted very much to add some gold and ultramarine to the draperies to

enrich the whole. The Pope, too, heard from all who praised the chapel

highly that these things were still wanting and would fain have had

Michelangelo do it. But Michelangelo knew it would have been too great

a labor to put up the scaffolding, so the pictures remained as they were.

The Pope, who saw Michelangelo often, would sometimes say, "Let the

chapel be enriched with bright colors and gold, it looks poor." Then

Michelangelo would answer, "Holy Father, these were poor folk and holy

men, besides, who despised riches and ornament."

For this work Michelangelo was paid three thousand crowns by the

Pope. He may have spent twenty-five for colors. He worked under great

personal inconvenience, constantly looking upward, so that he seriously

injured his eyes. For months afterward he could read a letter only when

he held it above his head. I can vouch for the pain of this kind of labor.

When I painted the ceiling of the palace of Duke Cosimo, I never could

have finished the work without a special support for my head. As it is,

I still feel the effects of it, and I wonder that Michelangelo endured it

so well. But, as the work progressed, his zeal for his art increased daily,

and he grudged no labor and was insensible to all fatigue.

Down the center of the ceiling is the History of the World, from the

Creation to the Deluge. The Prophets and the Sibyls, five on each side

and one at each end, are painted on the corbels. The lunettes portray the

genealogy of Christ. Michelangelo used no perspective, nor any one fixed

point of sight, but was satisfied to paint each division with perfection of

design. Truly this chapel has been, and is, the very light of our art. Every-

one capable of judging stands amazed at the excellence of this work, at

the grace and flexibility, the beautiful truth of proportion of the exquisite

nude forms. These are varied in every way in expression and form. Some

of the figures are seated, some are in motion, while others hold up festoons

of oak leaves and acorns, the device of Pope Julius.

All the world hastened to behold this marvel and was overwhelmed,

speechless with astonishment. The Pope rewarded Michelangelo with rich

gifts and planned still greater works. Michelangelo sometimes remarked

that he was aware that the pontiff really esteemed his abilities. When the

Pope was sometimes rude and rough, he always soothed the injury by gifts