the Ripa.  There he had them disembarked, and carried to the Piazza of S. Peter’s behind S. Caterina, where he kept his lodging, close to the corridor connecting the Palace with the Castle of S. Angelo.  The quantity of stone was enormous, so that, when it was all spread out upon the square, it stirred amazement in the minds of most folk, but joy in the Pope’s.  Julius indeed began to heap favours upon Michelangelo; for when he had begun to work, the Pope used frequently to betake himself to his house, conversing there with him about the tomb, and about other works which he proposed to carry out in concert with one of his brothers.  In order to arrive more conveniently at Michelangelo’s lodgings, he had a drawbridge thrown across from the corridor, by which he might gain privy access.”

The date of Michelangelo’s return to Rome is fixed approximately by a contract signed at Carrara between him and two shipowners of Lavagna.  This deed is dated November 12, 1505.  It shows that thirty-four cartloads of marble were then ready for shipment, together with two figures weighing fifteen cartloads more.  We have a right to assume that Michelangelo left Carrara soon after completing this transaction.  Allowing, then, for the journey and the halt at Florence, he probably reached Rome in the last week of that month.

III

The first act in the tragedy of the sepulchre had now begun, and Michelangelo was embarked upon one of the mightiest undertakings which a sovereign of the stamp of Julius ever intrusted to a sculptor of his titanic energy.  In order to form a conception of the magnitude of the enterprise, I am forced to enter into a discussion regarding the real nature of the monument.  This offers innumerable difficulties, for we only possess imperfect notices regarding the original design, and two doubtful drawings belonging to an uncertain period.  Still it is impossible to understand those changes in the Basilica of S. Peter’s which were occasioned by the project of Julius, or to comprehend the immense annoyances to which the tomb exposed Michelangelo, without grappling with its details.  Condivi’s text must serve for guide.  This, in fact, is the sole source of any positive value.  He describes the tomb, as he believed it to have been first planned, in the following paragraph:—­

“To give some notion of the monument, I will say that it was intended to have four faces:  two of eighteen cubits, serving for the sides, and two of twelve for the ends, so that the whole formed one great square and a half.  Surrounding it externally were niches to be filled with statues, and between each pair of niches stood terminal figures, to the front of which were attached on certain consoles projecting from the wall another set of statues bound like prisoners.  These represented the Liberal Arts, and likewise Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, each with characteristic emblems, rendering their identification easy.