The Life of Michael Angelo

by Romain Rolland

THE LIFE OF

MICHAEL ANGELO

BY ROMAIN ROLLAND

AUTHOR OF “JOHN CHRISTOPHER” ETC.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
BY FREDERIC LEES

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK

E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY

1912

BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD
Tavistock Street Covent Garden
London England

CONTENTS
 

	page
Preface	v
Introduction	3
PART I—THE STRUGGLE
III⁠Strength	23
III⁠Shattered Strength	50
III⁠Despair	70
PART II—ABDICATION
III⁠Love	91
III⁠Faith	125
III⁠Solitude	149
EPILOGUE
Death	165
APPENDIX
Part II⁠Poems by Michael Angelo ⁠	175
Part II⁠Bibliography	192
Index	197

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
 

	facing page
FrontispiecePortrait of Michael Angelo ⁠Attributed to Marcello Venusti
Tomb of Giuliano de’ Medici ⁠In the Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo, Florence	12
The Battle of the Centaurs ⁠Unfinished bas-relief in the Galleria Buonarroti, Florence	24
Pieta ⁠St. Peter’s, Rome	28
David ⁠Academy of Fine Arts, Florence	30
The Holy Family ⁠In the Uffizi, Florence	34
The Prophet Jeremiah ⁠In the Sistine Chapel	42
Decorative Figure ⁠In the Sistine Chapel	48
The Slave ⁠From the statue in the Louvre	54
God Creating the Sun and Moon ⁠In the Sistine Chapel	60
Monument of Lorenzo de’ Medici ⁠Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo, Florence	64
The Creation of Man ⁠In the Sistine Chapel	68
The Erythræan Sybil ⁠From the Sistine Chapel	74
The Libyan Sybil ⁠From the Sistine Chapel	80
Victory ⁠From the group in the National Museum, Florence	84
Christ Condemning the Wicked ⁠Fragment of “The Last Judgement,” in the Sistine Chapel	92
Young Woman Wearing a Helmet ⁠From the drawing in the Uffizi Gallery	100
The Resurrection ⁠From a drawing in the Louvre	112
The Resurrection ⁠From a drawing in the British Museum	116
Charon’s Boat ⁠Fragment of “The Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel	120
Moses (Tomb of Julius II) ⁠San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome	124
Original Model (in wood) of the Dome of St. Peter’s ⁠In the Vatican	128
The Descent from the Cross ⁠From the group in the Cathedral, Florence	130
Jesse ⁠In the Sistine Chapel	146