How well these superlative
fragments would look in the corners of the Loggia dei Lanzi, or in the
courtyard of the Bargello. In the Bargello two groups, the Victory and the
Dying Adonis, may have been originally intended for the Tomb, but we
believe they have been finished and considerably altered by some later
workman; possibly they were only blocked out by Michael Angelo. The
movement of the figure and the position of the head have been altered in
the Victory, and the whole subject of the Adonis has been changed by the
introduction of the insignificant boar. Vasari tells us that in his time
there were, besides the Moses, Victory, and two Slaves, eight figures
blocked out by Michael Angelo at Rome, and five at Florence; possibly
these five at Florence were the four in the Boboli Gardens and an earlier
state of the Adonis.
After his flight from Rome in 1506 Michael Angelo had some six months at
Florence, working on his cartoon in the workshop at the Spedale dei
Tintori. When he went to Julius at Bologna in November it was finished,
and was exhibited in the Sala del Papa at Santa Maria Novella. All this
time Bramante and his set had the Pope's ear in Rome. He has been accused
of suggesting that Michael Angelo should paint the vault of the Sistine
Chapel, in the hope that he would ignominiously fail in such an unusual
task; but we do not think we can thank Bramante even for that indirect
service, for Michael Angelo's friend, Pietro Rosselli, wrote on May 6,
1506:--
[Image #12]
TWO OF THE UNFINISHED MARBLE STATUES IN THE GROTTO OF THE BOBOLI GARDENS,
FLORENCE
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari, Florence_)
"Dearest in place of a brother, after salutations and kind regards:--I
inform you how on Saturday evening, when the Pope was at supper, I showed
him certain designs that Bramante and I had to examine.
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