There are infinite details which I pass over in silence. It
is enough that, besides the divine composition, all that the human figure
is capable of in the art of painting is here to be seen.
CHAPTER X
THE CHAPEL OF POPE PAUL AND THE PIETA OF SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE
LIV. Finally, Pope Paul having built a chapel on the same floor as the
before-mentioned Sistine, he desired to decorate it in his own memory, and
he made Michael Angelo paint the frescoes on the side walls. In one is
represented the crucifixion of St. Peter; in the other the story of St.
Paul--how he was converted by the apparition of Jesus Christ--both
stupendous in general composition as in the individual figures. And this
is the last work of painting by Michael Angelo that has been seen to this
day; he finished it in his seventy-fifth year. At present he has in hand a
group in marble, which he works at for his pleasure, as one who full of
ideas and powers must produce something every day. It is a group of four
figures, larger than life--a Deposition. The dead Christ is held up by His
Mother; she supports the body on her bosom with her arms and with her
knees, a wonderfully beautiful gesture. She is aided by Nicodemus above,
who is erect and stands firmly--he holds her under the arms and sustains
her with manly strength--and on the left by one of the Marys, who, although
exhibiting the deepest grief, does not omit to do those offices that the
Mother, by the extremity of her sorrow, is unable to perform.
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