A contract was signed on
June 5, 1501, by which Michael Angelo agreed to complete some fifteen
statues of male saints within the time of three years, for the Piccolomini
Chapel, in the Duomo of Siena. A Saint Francis was begun by Piero
Torrigiano, and may have been finished by Michael Angelo. The rest of the
four works that were the outcome of this commission can have had nothing
to do with the chisel of the sculptor of the Madonna della Febbre and the
David. Michael Angelo must have merely contracted to supply them, as the
master sculptor of a sculptor's yard, possibly furnishing the designs
himself. There is a drawing at the British Museum of a bearded saint,
cowled and holding a book in his left hand, which may be a design for one
of these inferior works.
[Image #5]
DAVID
THE ACADEMY, FLORENCE
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari Florence_)
[Image #6]
DAVID
IN THE PIAZZA
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari, Florence_)
[Image #7]
SAINT MATTHEW
THE COURT OF THE ACADEMY, FLORENCE
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari, Florence_)
In August of the same year, 1501, Michael Angelo began the colossal statue
of David, that used to stand in the Piazza and is now in the Academy at
Florence.
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