Now Michelangelo had a great deal to do with this family first and last, and his work on the tomb has an additional interest on this account.  It was to Lorenzo the Magnificent that he owed his first start as a sculptor in an academy founded by this prince.  He so pleased his patron that he was received into the duke’s own household, and treated almost like a son.  Years passed; Lorenzo had long been dead, when, one after another, two members of the same family came to the papal throne, and they desired to honor their name by employing the greatest sculptor of Italy in this monumental work.

So Michelangelo began designs for the sacristy, the entire decoration of which was intrusted to him.  The walls of the rooms were panelled with marble, set with niches, in the form of windows, in which the statues were to be placed.

As the work proceeded, it was interrupted by some strange incidents, of which we shall hear later.  The whole plan was never fully carried out, but in spite of incompleteness the chapel is a grand and impressive place.

XIV

THE TOMB OF GIULIANO DE’ MEDICI

The tomb of Giuliano de’ Medici is the companion to the tomb of Lorenzo, and stands on the opposite side of the altar which separates them.  Our illustration shows the entire work, the statue being in the niche above, and the sarcophagus standing below with two reclining figures on it.

Giuliano de’ Medici, duke of Nemours, was the youngest son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and consequently the uncle of the younger Lorenzo.  In reality he was greatly superior to his nephew, but curiously enough his appearance in Michelangelo’s statue is more commonplace, though his attitude is graceful.  He was a thoughtful man, somewhat melancholy in disposition, and the author of a poem on suicide.  He wears the costume of a Roman general, but his small head and slender throat are not those of a warrior.

You will notice that the attitude of the duke Giuliano is somewhat similar to that of Moses.  Both sit with left foot drawn back and right knee extended.  Both turn the head in profile, looking intently toward the left.  In either case it is easy to imagine the figure suddenly springing up.

Now this fact emphasizes the difference we have already noted between the sculpture of Michelangelo and that of the Greeks.  The leading idea in Greek sculpture was that of repose, while, as we have seen in the David and the Cupid, Michelangelo chose for his figures a moment of action.  To give this suggestion of motion to a seated figure is even more remarkable than in the case of one standing, for the sitting posture naturally has an effect of stability.

The reclining figures on the sarcophagus of the Duke Giuliano represent Night and Day, and are supposed to be symbolic of death and resurrection.  Night is a woman lying with head sunk upon the breast in a deep sleep.  She is crowned with a crescent moon and star, and an owl is placed at her feet.  The mask beneath her pillow symbolizes the body from which the spirit has departed.  Though the figure is not beautiful in the Greek sense, it is grand and queenly.  Opposite is Day, an unfinished captive, his head half freed from the stone, the arms rigid, the body contorted.