[76] The only document which makes it possible for us to give an account of the original work is a copy by Marcello Venusti in the Museum of Naples, from which a painter of Orléans, Robert Le Noyer, seems to have made in 1750 a reduced copy which is now in the Museum of Montpellier. (See G. Lafenestre et E. Richtenberger, "La Peinture en Europe." Rome.)

[77] The British Museum and the University of Oxford have drawings which are related to these frescoes. The Cartoon is in the Museum at Naples.

[78] March 6, 1542. (Gaye, Vol. II, p. 289.)

[79] July 20, 1542 (Petition of Michelangelo to Paul III), Michelangelo added that the two figures were already so far advanced that they could be easily completed by other artists. (Gaye, Vol. II, p. 297.)

[80] The fourteen hundred crowns had been deposited at the bank of Silvestro da Montanto & Co. They were to be divided as follows: eight hundred for the work of Urbino; five hundred and thirty for the statues of Raffaello da Montelupo, whose Madonna was already finished; and fifty for the transportation and placing of the statues by Urbino.

[81] October, 1542. Letter to an unknown person whom he calls Monsignore.

[82] 18 November, 1542. Letter of Michelangelo to Luigi del Riccio.

[83]

Giovane e bella in sogno mi parea
Donna vedere andar per una landa
Cogliendo fiori; e cantando dicea:
Sappia, qualunque il mio nome domanda
Ch'io mi son Lia, e vo movendo intorno
Le belle mani a farmi una ghirlanda.
Per piacermi allo specchio qui m'adorno;
Ma mia suora Rachel mai non si smaga
Dal suo miraglio, e siede tutto giorno.
Ell' è de' suoi begli occhi veder vaga,
Com'io dell'adornami con la mani;
Lei lo vedere, e mi l'oprare appaga.
—(Purgatorio, XXVII.)
(Translation of C. E. Norton.)

[84] A Prophet and a Sibyl are by Raffaello da Montelupo, and the absurd statue of the Pope by Maso Boscoli da Fiesole.