22 [LXI] As all tools used by man are formed by means of other tools, the archetypal tool must be that celestial instrument by which the world is fashioned. On earth, Vittoria Colonna had been the hammer (as we now say, the chisel) by which had been inspired the creative activity of the artist. By her death, this influence had been withdrawn to heaven, there to become united with the all-forming hammer of the eternal Maker; it is, therefore, only from on high that the artist can look for the completion of his own genius.
To the text, in the hand of Michelangelo, is added a sentence expressing his sense of the incomparable merit of Vittoria, as the divine instrument which none other is able to wield, and a prayer that his own hammer, as he metaphorically says, may also attain a reception in heaven.
The mystically expressed, but in reality simple and direct verse is crowded with ideas which strive for utterance. The sculptor[86] seems to have written prophetically; after the passing away of Vittoria, the last of his animating impulses appears to have been removed, and his life becomes that of a recluse, struggling with the infirmities of advancing age.
Several other pieces relate to the death of Vittoria.
[LXII]
QUAND’EL MINISTRO DE’ SOSPIR ME’ TANTI
When she who ministereth sighs, withdrew
From the world’s sight, from her own self and mine,
Nature, who made her in our eyes to shine,
Remained abashed, and downcast all who knew.