The base under Day and Night has no bosses; they had not been begun as in
the former case; we may presume the academicians thought it best to have
them flat. These simple bases are the most effective portions of the
architectural scheme of the monument, in character with the allegorical
figures, reminding us of the plinths or seats provided for the Athletes
and the Prophets of the Sistine. Perhaps they were the only portions,
except the figures and the panelling of the walls, seen by Michael Angelo
himself. The supports and lid of the sarcophagi, and the sarcophagus of
Giuliano, are of different marble to the actual receptacle of the body of
Lorenzo, that is under Dawn and Evening. The quiet mouldings of the latter
are much finer and more in character with the walls. The lids are of a
white sugary marble, the mouldings coarse and semicircular in section, and
the volutes and circular endings of the lids are of a perfectly stupid
design. These lids cannot have been seen by Michael Angelo; and,
therefore, he cannot have seen the figures in their places upon them. The
sarcophagus under the Day and Night has been copied from the one seen by
Michael Angelo: its mouldings are still beautiful, but heavier, more
deeply cut, and of less subtle line in the section. The difference is
perceptible to the eye and evident with the aid of a good foot-rule. This
sarcophagus is of a different marble, as has been said. As to the third
period, the garlands and little pretty vases over the doors of the chapel,
and the consoles and niches above, are like nothing else in the world but
those carved frames that in Florence to this day are called "Vasari
frames.
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