the parts which now compose the Capitol is due to his conception:  the long steep flight of steps leading up from the Piazza Araceli; the irregular open square, flanked on the left hand by the Museum of Sculpture, on the right by the Palazzo dei Conservatori, and closed at its farther end by the Palazzo del Senatore.  He also placed the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus on its noble pedestal, and suggested the introduction of other antique specimens of sculpture into various portions of the architectural plan.  The splendid double staircase leading to the entrance hall of the Palazzo del Senatore, and part of the Palazzo dei Conservatori, were completed during Michelangelo’s lifetime.  When Vasari wrote in 1568, the dead sculptor’s friend, Tommaso dei Cavalieri, was proceeding with the work.  There is every reason, therefore, to assume that the latter building, at any rate, fairly corresponds to his intention.  Vignola and Giacomo della Porta, both of them excellent architects, carried out the scheme, which must have been nearly finished in the pontificate of Innocent X. (1644-1655).

Like the cupola of S. Peter’s, the Campidoglio has always been regarded as one of Michelangelo’s most meritorious performances in architecture.  His severe critic, M. Charles Garnier, says of the Capitol:  “The general composition of the edifice is certainly worthy of Buonarroti’s powerful conception.  The balustrade which crowns the facade is indeed bad and vulgar; the great pilasters are very poor in invention, and the windows of the first story are extremely mediocre in style.  Nevertheless, there is a great simplicity of lines in these palaces; and the porticoes of the ground-floor might be selected for the beauty of their leading motive.  The opposition of the great pilasters to the little columns is an idea at once felicitous and original.  The whole has a fine effect; and though I hold the proportions of the ground-floor too low in relation to the first story, I consider this facade of the Capitol not only one of Michelangelo’s best works, but also one of the best specimens of the building of that period.  Deduction must, of course, be made for heaviness and improprieties of taste, which are not rare.”

Next to these designs for the Capitol, the most important architectural work of Michelangelo’s old age was the plan he made of a new church to be erected by the Florentines in Rome to the honour of their patron, S. Giovanni.  We find him writing to his nephew on the 15th of July 1559:  “The Florentines are minded to erect a great edifice—­that is to say, their church; and all of them with one accord put pressure on me to attend to this.  I have answered that I am living here by the Duke’s permission for the fabric of S. Peter’s, and that unless he gives me leave, they can get nothing from me.”  The consul and counsellors of the Florentine nation in Rome wrote upon this to the Duke, who entered with enthusiasm into their scheme, not only sending a favourable