Yet spiritual world. It may be presumptuous after this fashion to interpret the design of him who called into existence the heroic population of the Sistine. Michael Angelo has written lines which in some measure justify the reading. This is how he closes one of his 5 finest sonnets to Vittoria Colonna: "Nor hath God deigned to show Himself elsewhere Therefore to him a well-shaped hand, or throat, or head, a 10 neck superbly poised on an athletic chest, the sway of the trunk above the hips, the starting of the muscles on the flank, the tendons of the ankle, the outline of the shoulder when the arm is raised, the backward bending of the loins, the contours of a body careless in repose or strained for 15 action, were all words pregnant with profoundest meaning, whereby fit utterance might be given to the thoughts that raise man near to God. But, it may be asked, what poems of action as well as feeling are to be expressed in this form-language? The 20 answer is simple. Paint or carve the body of a man, and, as you do it nobly, you will give the measure of both highest thought and most impassioned deed. This is the key to Michael Angelo's art. He cared but little for inanimate nature. The landscapes of Italy, so eloquent 25 in their sublimity and beauty, were apparently a blank to him. His world was the world of ideas, taking visible form, incarnating themselves in man. One language the master had to serve him in all need - the language of plastic human form; but it was to him a tongue as rich 30 in its variety of accent and of intonation as Beethoven's harmonies. In the Sistine Chapel, where plastic art is so supreme, we are bound to ask the further question, What was the 5 difference between Michael Angelo and a Greek? The Parthenon with its processions of youths and maidens, its gods and heroes, rejoicing in their strength, and robed with raiment that revealed their living form, made up a symphony of meaning as full as this of Michael Angelo, 10 and far more radiant. The Greek sculptor embraced humanity in his work no less comprehensively than the Italian; and what he had to say was said more plainly in the speech they both could use. But between Pheidias and Michael Angelo lay Christianity, the travail of the 15 world through twenty centuries. Clear as morning, and calm in the unconsciousness of beauty, are those heroes of the youth of Hellas. All is grace, repose, strength shown but not asserted. Mi'cha el An'ge (ja) lỗ Bu ô nár roti (1475-1564): an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect, one of the greatest artists of the world. Běn venuto Cel (chel) li'ni (1500-1570): an Italian artist, celebrated especially as a worker in metals. Cuŭl'mināted: reached the highest pitch of glory. Po děs ta': mayor or magistrate of an Italian town. Do měnĩ cô Gir län dä jo (yō) (1450?-1495): a celebrated Italian painter. Fres'cões: paintings executed on plaster before it is dry. Ludwig (vig) văn Beethoven (1770-1827): an eminent Prussian musical composer, who was during his youth the pupil of Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), a celebrated German musical composer. Bot te'gä : studio. Měd'i ci (che): a noble family of Florence, whose members were patrons of art and literature. Lorenzo de' Medici (1448-1492), called the Magnificent, the patron of Michael Angelo, was himself a poet and scholar. Fi ci' (chế) nō (14321499): an Italian scholar and philosopher. Pico della Mi rän'do lä (1463-1494): an Italian theologian and philosopher. Po li zi (tsē) ä'no or Politian (shan) (1454-1494): a celebrated Italian classical scholar and poet, the intimatefriend of Michael Angelo. Gi ro la'mo Sävō närō'lä (1452-1498): a famous Italian religious reformer. Duo' (dwō) mỗ: cathedral. Sis'tine: a chapel in the Vatican at Rome, decorated with fresco paintings by Michael Angelo and Raphael. The tomb: of the Pope Julius II., the plan of which had been abandoned. Brä män'te: a famous architect of the time. Cär rärä: famous marble quarries. Cär toon': a design or study drawn of the full size of the projected fresco or tapestry. Myth'ŭs: myth. Cä pěl'lä Sïsti'nä: Sistine Chapel. Beginning of sin: Genesis ix. Spăn'drěl : the irregular triangular space between the curve of an arch and the inclosing right angle. Sib'ÿls: women supposed to be endowed with the power of prophecy. Lū nětte': any surface of semicircular or segmental form. Vit tō'riä Colon'nä: a lady to whom Michael Angelo addressed a series of sonnets. The Casting of the Statue of Perseus BY BENVENUTO CELLINI Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1570): An Italian artist, celebrated as a sculptor, engraver, and goldworker. He worked in Paris for Francis I. and in Florence for Cosimo de' Medici. His autobiography is an entertaining and curious work. In it he gives this interesting account of the casting in bronze of one of his masterpieces, "Perseus and Medusa." I strengthened my heart, and with all the forces of my body and my purse, employing what little money still remained to me, I set to work. First, I provided myself with several loads of pine wood from the forests of Serristori. While these were on their way, I clothed my5 Perseus with the clay which I had prepared many months beforehand, in order that it might be duly seasoned. After making its clay tunic, for that is the term used in this art, and properly arming it and fencing it with iron girders, I began to draw the wax out by means of a slow fire. This melted and issued through numerous air5 vents I had made; for the more there are of these, the better will the mold fill. When I had finished drawing off the wax, I constructed a funnel-shaped furnace all round the model of my Perseus. It was built of bricks, so interlaced the one above the other that numerous aper10 tures were left for the fire to exhale at. Then I began to lay on wood by degrees, and kept it burning two whole days and nights. At length, when all the wax was gone and the mold was well baked, I set to work at digging the pit in which to sink it. This I performed with scrupu15 lous regard to all the rules of art. When I had finished that part of my work, I raised the mold by windlasses and stout ropes to a perpendicular position, and suspending it with the greatest care one cubit above the level of the furnace, so that it hung exactly above the middle of 20 the pit, I next lowered it gently down into the very bottom of the furnace, and had it firmly placed with every possible precaution for its safety. When this delicate operation was accomplished, I began to bank it up with the earth I had excavated; and, ever as the earth grew 25 higher, I introduced its proper air-vents, which were little tubes of earthenware, such as folk use for drains and such like purposes. At length I felt sure that it was admirably fixed, and that the filling-in of the pit and the placing of the air-vents had been properly performed. 30 I also could see that my workpeople understood my method, which differed very considerably from that of |