MICHAEL ANGELO. 257 



year gradually exhibiting its magnificent proportions 

 under the architectural designs of Michael Angelo, 

 the brush of the great artist was giving form and 

 color to the figures, human and divine, in the Last 

 Judgment. And while these marvelous productions 

 in juxtaposition continue to enchant the lover of art, 

 it can not be forgotten that Rome embraces other at- 

 tractions due to his skill and genius. His seated 

 Moses in the Church of San Pietro in Vinculo will 

 forever hold a high place. The novice in art may 

 not admire the prophet's horns, but he can not avert 

 the following of those piercing eyes, fitfully flashing 

 the lightnings of Sinai. The statue has been pro- 

 nounced alive by the timid, so lifelike is the expres- 

 sion of the face. 



A criticism of the Last Judgment is, that the 

 figures are not sufficiently ghostly. Biagio, master 

 of ceremonies of the Pope, was asked what he thought 

 of the figures, and replied that such a display of the 

 nude was better suited to a bath establishment than 

 to a chapel. Michael Angelo was wroth at this criti- 

 cism on the part of a man who had no reason to be 

 prudish ; and out of sheer revenge painted a recog- 

 nizable caricature of Biagio as Minos among the 

 damned, the head bearing the ears of an ass. The trav- 

 esty offended the feelings of the attendant to an 

 extent that the Pontiff was asked to have the portrait 

 effaced. " Where has the painter placed you ?" asked 

 the Pope. " In hell," was the answer. " If you were 

 in purgatory, my prayers might have effect, but I 

 have no power over the damned ;" and his Holiness 

 eeems to have expressed a verity, for to this day 

 Biagio remains as Minos, and the ears of an ass grace 

 the sides of his head. 



