250 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 







as it was at once placed in the ducal hall to the honor of 

 Michael Angelo and the glory of art, and was for 

 many years constantly visited by both natives and 

 foreigners who came to study the great work and to 

 make copies of it in parts." 



About this time (1503) Julius II. was elected to 

 the papal throne, and being an admirer of art, and 

 ambitious to glorify his reign, invited artists of re- 

 pute to visit Rome. The first honored was Michael 

 Angelo ; and the invitation to come to the Vatican 

 was accompanied with flattering compliments and a 

 draft for a hundred ducats to pay traveling expenses. 

 The Pontiff had determined to beautify Rome, and 

 to make the city the center of art and the home of 

 artists. A favorite observation of his was that " learn- 

 ing elevated the lowest orders of society, stamped the 

 highest order on nobility, and to princes was the most 

 splendid gem in the diadem of sovereignty." 



Although Michael Angelo was gratified by this 

 invitation from the Bishop of Rome, he was not in- 

 clined to relinquish his hold on citizenship in Florence, 

 the city once torn by Guelph arid Ghibeline, and by 

 factions led by unwise rulers. After Lorenzo " the 

 magnificent " died, his ill-starred son engaged in 

 questionable enterprises, making war on adjacent gov- 

 ernments and squandering revenues which were needed 

 in the cultivation of peace and prosperity at home. 

 This state of things led outside enemies to federate 

 against the prince, and to plot the spoliation of " the 

 gem of Italy." While a hostile foe was gathering up 

 its cohorts, and menacing the Florentines with fire and 

 sword, an effort was made on the part of the best 

 citizens of Florence to preserve the country from in- 

 vasion and the loss of liberty. While Michael Angelo 



