Thus the vision of Cardiere, whether a delusion of the
devil, a divine warning, or a strong imagination that had taken hold of
him, was verified; a thing so truly remarkable that it is worthy of being
recorded. I have narrated it just as I heard it from Michael Angelo
himself. It was about three years after the death of the Magnificent
Lorenzo that his children were exiled from Florence, so that Michael
Angelo was between twenty and twenty-one years of age when he escaped the
first popular tumults by remaining with the aforesaid gentleman of Bologna
until the city of Florence settled down again. This gentleman honoured him
highly, delighting in his genius, and every evening he made him read
something from Dante or from Petrarca, or now and then from Boccaccio,
until he fell asleep.
XVII. One day walking together in Bologna they went to see the ark of San
Domenico, in the Church dedicated to that Saint; two marble figures were
still lacking, a San Petronio and a kneeling angel supporting a
candlestick in his arms. The gentleman asked Michael Angelo if he had the
heart to undertake them, and he replying "yes," had it arranged that he
should have them to do; he was paid thirty ducats for it, eighteen for the
San Petronio, and twelve for the angel. The figures were three palms high;
they may still be seen in that same place. But afterwards Michael Angelo
mistrusted a Bolognese sculptor, who complained that he had taken away the
commission for the before-mentioned statues from him, as it had first been
promised to him, and as he threatened to do him an injury Michael Angelo
went back to Florence to accommodate matters,(21) as affairs had now
become quiet and he could live safely in his house.
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