i r. 



BUONAROTTI, MICHEL ANdELO. 



BOONARRUOTI, MICHEL-AGN 



own bud*. He cane however attended by ten cardinals, to Me the 

 work which had occasioned to much litigation, and pronounced it to 

 be miraculous. Being shown, at the lame time, the oartooni which 

 had been prepared for the ' Last Judgment,' he determined that nothing 

 ahouM impede the immediate execution of that work, and undertook 

 to arbitrate, himself between Michel Angelo and the heirs of Juliui. 

 The monument waa at length finished, by mutual agreement, on a 

 nailer acale than bad been originally project, d, and placed in the 

 church of San Pietro in Vinculo. Michel Angelo now found himaelf 

 at liberty to proceed with the picture of tho ' Lost Judgment ; ' ho 

 devoted to that immense work the labour of eight years, and it was 

 finished in 1541. We are accustomed to connect with this perform- 

 ance an impreaaiou of everything which is great in art ; nevertheless, 

 whoever expects to find in it that which is usually attached to our 

 ideas of painting, an effect agreeable to the eye, will be utterly dis- 

 appointed. Art, indeed, was not at that time considered a medium 

 of amusement merely, but a vehicle for religious impressions ; and as 

 the leading feeling atsociated with the awful idea of the last judgment 

 is that of terror, so Michel Angelo has made terror the predominating 

 sentiment of his picture. In the Messiah we aee rather the inexorable 

 judge than the merciful Redeemer ; he turns to the left, and fulminates 

 hu sentence on the wicked, who fall thunderstruck. These groups, 

 precipitated through the air, nre seized by dromons who spring from 

 the abyss beneath. This is tho finest part of the picture, for there is 

 little among the groups of the righteous, who on the opposite side are 

 ascending into heaven, which expresses the happiness of the blessed. 

 That part of the picture in which the dead are seen rising from their 

 graves is admirable. The excellence of the work consists in the 

 uuparallelcd powers of invention displayed in the various croups, and 

 in the profound knowledge of the human figure by which the artist 

 was enabled so effectually to embody his conceptions ; but considering 

 the composition a whole, it must be acknowledged, that without 

 impairing the solemn impression proper to tho subject, a more pictu- 

 resque arrangement mii;ht have been admitted, and that even the 

 ceutimcnt would have been augmented by more powerful combinations 

 of light and shadow. It was pronounced by contemporary criticism 

 that Michel Angelo had in that work excelled all his former pro- 

 ductions ; but the deliberate judgment of time, we believe, inclines to 

 decide that his great name as a painter is better sustained by the 

 compartments in tho roof, and on the aides of the Siatinc chapel, than 

 by the picture of tho ' Last Judgment.' 



The career of Michel Angelo is an example of the splendid results 

 produced by great powers in conjunction with great opportunities. 

 \\'e next find him engaged in constructing the magnificent fabric of 

 St. Peter's church. He began by substituting for the Saracenic design 

 of San Oallo, a more Christian and superb model in the shape of a 

 Greek crow. " This fabric," to use the language of Fuseli, "scattered 

 into infinity of jarring parti by his predecessors, he concentrated ; 

 suspended the cupola, and to the most complex, gave tho air of the 

 mo*t simple of edifice*." On this work he was occupied during the 

 whole remainder of bis life, lie found opportunities however to direct 

 fortifications, to adorn the Capitol with magnificent buildings, to finish 

 the Farnese palace, and give design* for other works of architecture. 

 But circumstances connected with the building of tlie church embit- 

 tered his Utter years with serious causes of trouble. As he had occasion, 

 among the number of persons employed iu the undertaking, to promote 

 some and dlimits others, he was beset with cabals, and harassed by 

 opposition; and machinations were even employed to deprive Mm of 

 his office : but he was uniformly supported by the pontiff'*, cs|>ccially 

 by Julius III., who regarded him with profound respect and venera- 

 tion. Old age came upon him not unaccompanied with tho physical 

 infirmities which belong to it, but he retained the rigour and alacrity 

 of his mental faculties to the close of his long life. He died on the 

 17th of February 1663, having nearly attained his eighty ninth year. 

 His last wordi were, "In your passage through thh life, remember the 



sufferings of Jesus Christ" He was buried with due honours iu the 

 church of the Apostoli at Rome; but his remains were afterwards 

 removed to the church of Santa Croce, at Florence. 



Considered either in relation to the degree or the variety of hU 

 talents, Michel Angelo holds a foremost place among the gnat men 

 of an age which has left the most durable imprest <>- np.m the arts 

 and literature of Europe. As a painter and sculptor he created his 

 own style, which, as it owed nothing to bis predecessors, so it has 

 remained unapproachable either by rivalry or imitation. As an 

 architect, he converted the fabric of St. Peter's from an incongruous 

 structure into perhaps the noblest temple which was ever erected to 

 the honour of tho Deity. The few poetic compositions which Mi. ln-1 

 Angelo has left can add little to liis vast reputation, < v, |.t as an 

 evidence of his versatility ; it may be observed however that they are 

 by no means unworthy of such a mind, and that, even iu poiut of 

 versification, they rank among the best in Italian literature^ His 

 talents in engineering need no other attestation than the face, that 

 Vauban, the celebrated French engineer, in passing through Florence, 

 was so impressed 'with the skill evinced in the fortifications of San 

 Miniato, that he ordered plans nnd models of them to be made for his 

 own especial study. The moral qualities also of Michel Angelo are 

 entitled to our respect He was benevolent, temperate, and pious ; 

 and although he felt the dignity of his own character, and knew how 

 to enforce respect from the arrogant and the supercilious, in his general 

 deportment he was mild and unassuming, lie had acquired con-id, r- 

 able wealth by the exercise of his various talents, and he employed it 

 liberally ; he assisted his friends, provided for his servants, aud during 

 the siege of Florence, he supplied the government with sums by no 

 means inconsiderable, considered as the contribution of an individual. 

 For the labour of building St. Peter's church, continued through many 

 years, he refused all remuneration, declaring that he dedicated that 

 service to the glory of God. Although no man was ever more entitled 

 to the claim of intuitive talent than Michel Angela, no man ever 

 trusted to it less : his practice was incessant, he continued his studies 

 to the last, and so untiring was his energy, that even while engaged 

 in the military operations of Florence, he proceeded with Ms works in 

 statuary and painting. His predilection* were decidedly iu favour of 

 sculpture, in preference to the other arts: vet it may be doubted 

 whether his reputation is not more permanently based on his paintings 

 in the Sistiue chapel. Beauty, so essential an element iu sculpture, 

 was certainly not the branch of art in which he excelled : nevertheless, 

 in subjects wherein that quality is not indispensable, he sometimes 

 reaches a point of unimagined excellence ; nor can there be found 

 perhaps, in the whole range of Greek sculpture, anything approxi- 

 mating to the profound sentiment and terrible .energy exhibited in the 

 statues of 'Lorenzo' and of 'Moses.' As a painter, he has no com- 

 petitor in the highest qualities of art, except Raffaelle, to whom, it 

 appears to us, be stands in the same relation which, in our literature, 

 Milton bears to Shakspere. In depth of pathos, in discriminated 

 expression, in varieties of character, and the power of telling his story, 

 liaffaelle is certainly superior to Michel Angelo; but if the truth of 

 that axiom be admitted, that sublimity, in its highest degree, is more 

 than an equivalent for all other qualities, then is Michel Angelo, 

 without doubt, the greatest painter that ever existed. 



BUONARRU0TI, MICHEL-AGNOLO, the Younger, was born in 

 1568, iu the city of Florence. He was the son of Lionardo di Buonar- 

 ruoto, brother of the great Michel-Agnolo, or Michel-Angelo, as the 

 name is now usually written ; his mother was Cassandra di Donato 

 Ridolfi. The Ridolfi and Buonarruoti were both families of the nobility 

 of Florence. Michel-Agnolo the Younger was born between four and 

 five years after the death of his uncle. He displayed a taste for lite- 

 rature and science at an early age, and studied mathematics and natural 

 philosophy under Galileo. He became a member of the Academy of 

 La Crusca at the early ago of seventeen, his introductory lecture having 

 been delivered in 1685. He was also a member of the Florentine 

 Academy, and was appointed to offices of the highest dignity in both 

 academies. He constructed a gallery in his house, and filled it with 

 a splendid collection of works of art and Florentine antiquities, and 

 held assemblies of the most distinguished artists and literary men in 

 Florence. Soon after Urban VIII. became pope he invited Michel- 

 Agnolo to Rome, where he resided some time, and gave instructions in 

 the mathematical sciences to the pope's nephews. He died January 

 11, 1646. 



Michel-Agnolo Buonarruuti the Younger is chiefly distinguished as 

 the author of two dramatic compositions, 'La Tancia' aud 'La Ficra.' 



' La Tancia,' though written in ottava rima, is not a poem, but a play 

 in five acts. The characters are all peasants of the neighbourhood of 

 the cily of Florence except two who are citizens, and except these two 

 they all speak in the country dialect o'f Tuscany. This rustic drama 

 is a composition of great i xicll> ncu. The characters are exhibited 

 with great distinctness and without exaggeration ; tho dialogue is 

 rapid and animated; aud the humour, which arises chiefly from tho 

 simple notions and natural expression of the country people, exhibiting 

 their feelings and modes of living and superstition, is highly amusing, 

 and without any taint of grossuess. As a specimen of the country 

 dialect of Tuscany at the period when it waa written, ' La Tancia ' is 

 a work of the highest reputation. It w:u< first exhibited in 1011, and 

 first printed in 1012, without the name of the author. 



