At first it seemed as though fortune was about to smile on him.  In Julius he found a patron who could understand and appreciate his powers.  Between the two men there existed a strong bond of sympathy due to community of temperament.  Both aimed at colossal achievements in their respective fields of action.  The imagination of both was fired by large and simple rather than luxurious and subtle thoughts.  Both were uomini terribili, to use a phrase denoting vigour of character and energy of genius, made formidable by an abrupt, uncompromising spirit.  Both worked with what the Italians call fury, with the impetuosity of daemonic natures; and both left the impress of their individuality stamped indelibly upon their age.  Julius, in all things grandiose, resolved to signalise his reign by great buildings, great sculpture, great pictorial schemes.  There was nothing of the dilettante and collector about him.  He wanted creation at a rapid rate and in enormous quantities.  To indulge this craving, he gathered round him a band of demigods and Titans, led by Bramante, Raffaello, Michelangelo, and enjoyed the spectacle of a new world of art arising at his bidding through their industry of brain and hand.

II

What followed upon Michelangelo’s arrival in Rome may be told in Condivi’s words:  “Having reached Rome, many months elapsed before Julius decided on what great work he would employ him.  At last it occurred to him to use his genius in the construction of his own tomb.  The design furnished by Michelangelo pleased the Pope so much that he sent him off immediately to Carrara, with commission to quarry as much marble as was needful for that undertaking.  Two thousand ducats were put to his credit with Alamanni Salviati at Florence for expenses.  He remained more than eight months among those mountains, with two servants and a horse, but without any salary except his keep.  One day, while inspecting the locality, the fancy took him to convert a hill which commands the sea-shore into a Colossus, visible by mariners afar.  The shape of the huge rock, which lent itself admirably to such a purpose, attracted him; and he was further moved to emulate the ancients, who, sojourning in the place peradventure with the same object as himself, in order to while away the time, or for some other motive, have left certain unfinished and rough-hewn monuments, which give a good specimen of their craft.  And assuredly he would have carried out this scheme, if time enough had been at his disposal, or if the special purpose of his visit to Carrara had permitted.  I one day heard him lament bitterly that he had not done so.  Well, then, after quarrying and selecting the blocks which he deemed sufficient, he had them brought to the sea, and left a man of his to ship them off.  He returned to Rome, and having stopped some days in Florence on the way, when he arrived there, he found that part of the marble had already reached