It is curious that in this petition and elsewhere no mention is made of what might be considered the most important portion of the tomb—­namely, the portrait statue of Julius.

The document was presented to Messer Piero Giovanni Aliotti, Bishop of Forli, and keeper of the wardrobe to Pope Paul.  Accordingly, the final contract regarding the tomb was drawn up and signed upon the 20th of August.  I need not recapitulate its terms, for I have already printed a summary of them in a former chapter of this work.  Suffice it to say that Michelangelo was at last released from all active responsibility with regard to the tomb, and that the vast design of his early manhood now dwindled down to the Moses.  To Raffaello da Montelupo was left the completion of the remaining five statues.

This lamentable termination to the cherished scheme of his lifetime must have preyed upon Michelangelo’s spirits.  The letters in which he alludes to it, after the contract had been signed, breathe a spirit of more than usual fretfulness.  Moreover, the Duke of Urbino now delayed to send his ratification, by which alone the deed could become valid.  In October, writing to Del Riccio, Michelangelo complains that Messer Aliotti is urging him to begin painting in the chapel; but the plaster is not yet fit to work on.  Meanwhile, although he has deposited 1400 crowns, “which would have kept him working for seven years, and would have enabled him to finish two tombs,” the Duke’s ratification does not come.  “It is easy enough to see what that means without writing it in words!  Enough; for the loyalty of thirty-six years, and for having given myself of my own free will to others, I deserve no better.  Painting and sculpture, labour and good faith, have been my ruin, and I go continually from bad to worse.  Better would it have been for me if I had set myself to making matches in my youth!  I should not be in such distress of mind....  I will not remain under this burden, nor be vilified every day for a swindler by those who have robbed my life and honour.  Only death or the Pope can extricate me.”  It appears that at this time the Duke of Urbino’s agents were accusing him of having lent out moneys which he had received on account for the execution of the monument.  Then follows, in the same month of October, that stormy letter to some prelate, which is one of the most weighty autobiographical documents from the hand of Michelangelo in our possession.

“Monsignore,—­Your lordship sends to tell me that I must begin to paint, and have no anxiety.  I answer that one paints with the brain and not with the hands; and he who has not his brains at his command produces work that shames him.  Therefore, until my business is settled, I can do nothing good.  The ratification of the last contract does not come.  On the strength of the other, made before Clement, I am daily stoned as though I had crucified Christ....  My whole youth and manhood have been lost, tied down to this tomb....  I see