Painting

Florentine Dukes:—

Lorenzo de' Medici, 1469-1492.

Piero de' Medici succeeded Lorenzo 1492, expelled from Florence 1493.

Alessandro de' Medici, made first hereditary duke of Florence 1531, assassinated 1537.

Cosimo de' Medici succeeded Alessandro, 1537-1574.

Popes:—

Sixtus IV., 1471-1484.

Innocent VIII., 1484-1492.

Alexander VI., 1492-1503.

Pius III., 1503-1503.

Julius II., 1503-1513.

The tomb of Giuliano de' Medici is the companion to the tomb of Lorenzo, and stands on the opposite side of the altar which separates them. Our illustration shows the entire work, the statue being in the niche above, and the sarcophagus standing below with two reclining figures on it.

Boiardo, 1434-1494, poet (Orlando Innamorato).

Ariosto, 1474-1533, poet (Orlando Furioso).

Aretino (Venetian) 1492-1557, poet.

Francesco Berni, 1496-1535, burlesque poet.

Bandello, 1480-1562, novelliero.

Sannazaro, 1458-1530, poet (Arcadia).

Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527, author of The Prince.

Gucciardini, 1483-1540, historian.

Tasso, 1544-1595, poet (Gerusalemme Liberata).

There are in the Bible certain references to a great day when the Son of Man shall be seen "coming in the clouds with great power and glory." "And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."[35] St.

Cristoforo Landino, 1424-1504, tutor of Lorenzo, and professor of Latin Literature.

Bartolommeo Scala, 1430-1497, chancellor of Florence.

Luigi Pulci, 1431-1487, writer of burlesque epic Il Morgante Maggiore, and intimate friend of Lorenzo and Poliziano.

Marsilio Ficino, 1433-1499, president of Academy in 1463, translator of Plato and Plotinus.

Angelo Poliziano, 1454-1494, tutor of Lorenzo's children, and professor of Greek and Latin Literature in University of Florence.

In the pictures of this collection we have learned something of the work of Michelangelo as a sculptor and a painter. He was an artist whose personality was so strongly impressed upon his work that we have come thus to know, to a certain extent, the man himself. His, as we have seen, was not a happy nature, and many of the circumstances of his life conspired against his happiness.

About two thousand years ago a babe was born in the little Judæan village of Bethlehem whose life was to change all history. His name was Jesus, and every Christian country now takes his birth as a standard from which to reckon time. When we speak of the year 1900, we are counting the number of years that have passed since that event.[3] To make this clear we sometimes add the initials a.d., standing for the Latin words, Anno Domini, meaning in the year of our Lord.

Michelangelo's place in the world of art is altogether unique. His supremacy is acknowledged by all, but is understood by a few only. In the presence of his works none can stand unimpressed, yet few dare to claim any intimate knowledge of his art. The quality so vividly described in the Italian word terribilità is his predominant trait. He is one to awe rather than to attract, to overwhelm rather than to delight.

Long ago in the country of Palestine lived a lad named David, who kept his father's sheep. His free life out of doors made him strong and manly beyond his years. The Israelites were at this time at war with the Philistines, and David's quick wit and indomitable courage fitted him to play an important part in the issue of the war.

The Philistine army contained a giant named Goliath, described as "six cubits and a span" in height. That is over ten feet; but perhaps his terrible appearance, in all his armor, made him taller than he really was.

The original materials for the study of Michelangelo's life and work are the two biographies by his contemporaries, Vasari and Condivi. Vasari's was the first of these (1550), and like the other portions of his "Lives of the Painters" contained many inaccuracies. It was to correct these that Condivi published his little book a few years later. This rival effort aroused Vasari's wrath, and after Michelangelo's death he issued an enlarged edition of his own book, unscrupulously incorporating all that was valuable in Condivi's work, and adding thereto many reminiscences of the master's life.