6. The Pietà, a marble group executed by the order of the Cardinal di San Dionigi according to a contract drawn up August 28, 1498. It was placed in the old basilica of St. Peter's (Rome), in a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Fever (Madonna della Febbre). In the present church of St. Peter's it occupies a side chapel, to which it gives its name, where it is placed so high that it is impossible to see it well, and where its beauty is disfigured by the bronze cherubs fastened above, holding a crown over the Virgin's head.
7. Christ Triumphant, a marble statue ordered by Bernardo Cencio (a canon of St. Peter's), Mario Scappuci, and Metello Varj dei Porcari for the church of S. Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, where it still stands. The deed was executed in 1514, specifying that the statue should be of marble, "life sized, naked, erect, with a cross in his arms." It appears from Michelangelo's correspondence that the work was finished by apprentices, first by Pietro Urbano, who did so badly that he was discharged and replaced by Federigo Frizzi. It was completed in 1521, when Michelangelo offered to make a new statue if it was not satisfactory. Varj, however, declared that the sculptor had "already made what could not be surpassed and was incomparable," so the statue was placed in position.
8-12. The Creation of Man, Jeremiah, Daniel, The Delphic Sibyl, the Cumæan Sibyl, frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Rome, begun in 1508 at the order of the Pope Julius II. Michelangelo undertook the work reluctantly, as sculpture was his chosen art. The architect Bramante first made a scaffolding for the work, so clumsily constructed that Michelangelo replaced it by one of his own invention. Several Florentine painters were engaged as assistants, but, failing to satisfy the painter, returned. Julius II. often visited the chapel during the work, climbing to the scaffolding to see how it progressed. Impatient to see it, he gave orders to have the ceiling uncovered when but half finished. The first uncovering took place November 1, 1509. The work was completed October, 1512.
13-14. Lorenzo de' Medici, Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici, marble tombs first projected in 1520 or 1521, during the pontificate of Leo X. (formerly Giovanni de' Medici). The order was renewed by Clement VII., another Medici pope, in 1523. The work was carried on intermittently a number of years during which occurred the revolution, siege, and recapture of Florence. From 1530-1533 Michelangelo carried them to the point of completion in which they are now seen: they were never fully finished. The identity of the tombs was long a matter of doubt. Though Vasari had called the helmeted figure Lorenzo and the other Giuliano, there were critics, notably Grimm, who took the opposite view. In 1875 the sarcophagus of the helmeted figure was opened and evidence found proving it to be unquestionably the tomb of Lorenzo, as Vasari had said. Both tombs remain as originally placed in the new sacristy of the church of San Lorenzo, Florence.
15. Central Figures of the Last Judgment, a fresco painting on the wall of the Sistine Chapel, executed by the order of the Pope Paul III., who in 1535 appointed Michelangelo chief architect, sculptor, and painter at the Vatican. The work occupied several years and was completed in 1541.
IV. COLLATERAL READINGS FROM LITERATURE.
IN CONNECTION WITH THE SEVERAL WORKS HERE REPRESENTED.
The Madonna and Child and the Holy Family:—
The Latin hymn, Mater Speciosa, by Jacobus de Benedictis, translated by Dr. Neale.