They thought it prudent, however, at this time, to exchange the hated name of de’ Medici for Popolano.  With a member of this section of the Medicean family, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, Michelangelo soon found himself on terms of intimacy.  It was for him that he made a statue of the young S. John, which was perhaps rediscovered at Pisa in 1874.  For a long time this S. Giovannino was attributed to Donatello; and it certainly bears decided marks of resemblance to that master’s manner, in the choice of attitude, the close adherence to the model, and the treatment of the hands and feet.  Still it has notable affinities to the style of Michelangelo, especially in the youthful beauty of the features, the disposition of the hair, and the sinuous lines which govern the whole composition.  It may also be remarked that those peculiarities in the hands and feet which I have mentioned as reminding us of Donatello—­a remarkable length in both extremities, owing to the elongation of the metacarpal and metatarsal bones and of the spaces dividing these from the forearm and tibia—­are precisely the points which Michelangelo retained through life from his early study of Donatello’s work.  We notice them particularly in the Dying Slave of the Louvre, which is certainly one of his most characteristic works.  Good judges are therefore perhaps justified in identifying this S. Giovannino, which is now in the Berlin Museum, with the statue made for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici.

The next piece which occupied Michelangelo’s chisel was a Sleeping Cupid.  His patron thought this so extremely beautiful that he remarked to the sculptor:  “If you were to treat it artificially, so as to make it look as though it had been dug up, I would send it to Rome; it would be accepted as an antique, and you would be able to sell it at a far higher price.”  Michelangelo took the hint.  His Cupid went to Rome, and was sold for thirty ducats to a dealer called Messer Baldassare del Milanese, who resold it to Raffaello Riario, the Cardinal di S. Giorgio, for the advanced sum of 200 ducats.  It appears from this transaction that Michelangelo did not attempt to impose upon the first purchaser, but that this man passed it off upon the Cardinal as an antique.  When the Cardinal began to suspect that the Cupid was the work of a modern Florentine, he sent one of his gentlemen to Florence to inquire into the circumstances.  The rest of the story shall be told in Condivi’s words.

“This gentleman, pretending to be on the lookout for a sculptor capable of executing certain works in Rome, after visiting several, was addressed to Michelangelo.  When he saw the young artist, he begged him to show some proof of his ability; whereupon Michelangelo took a pen (for at that time the crayon [lapis] had not come into use), and drew a hand with such grace that the gentleman was stupefied.  Afterwards, he asked if he had ever worked in marble, and when Michelangelo said yes, and mentioned among