The New York herald., 1921-07-17

that of Roman ROLAND, who wrote this
characterization, of Michelangelo
"He was irresolute in art, in politics, in
all his actions and in all his thoughts. Be
tween two works, two projects or two lines
of conduct he was never able to choose
The history of the monument to julius IL"
the facade of San Lorenzo and the tomb OF
the Medici is proof of this. He began and
began again, but never reached the end"
Not so Brandes. Fully conscious as he is
of the mental struggles the aloofness, the
idiosyncrasies that continually brought.
enmity to Michelangelo, it is not in the ma
ture of the Danish biographer to place en-
phasis on the negative side of the character
of the great Florentine citizen who had been
a positive influence in his own life, as these
words bear witness:
I'm 1871, when for the first time stepped
thin the Sistine Chapel, I said to myself:
AT last you are in the presence of that mind
which of all mind forces has struck deepest
into your soul. "
With the same care in arrangement that
characterizes the Shakespeare, these chap
ter headings furnish excellent keys to the
contents of both volumes. In the first the
reader learns how Early Youth in Florence,
First Stay in Rome Second Stay in Florence.
the Tragedy of the Rovere Sepulchre and
the Sistine Ceiling marked successive stages
in the mans artistic career. In the second
volume we have Michelangelo and Raphael,
the Sacristy of San Lorenzo. the Poet, the
Designer the Fresco of the Last Judgment,
the Architect, guide posts to a wealth of
matter that must have meant stupendous
undertaking in selection alone.
"As Is well known" says Brandes, sit was
while in the service of Ghirlandajo that Buo-
marriott did his very first, relatively indepen
dent work. The master possessed a copper
etching by Martin Schongauer the Eolmar
artist so highly valued in Italy, and Gran
acci showed Michelangelo this etching. 1t
represents ST. Anthony held aloft by nine
devils. These devils are In the shape of all
kinds of animals with horns and snouts,
claws and wings, and they are tearing and
pulling at the holy man whose unrufed
calm furnishes the contrast to their efforts.
This sketch the youth reproduced in colors
on wood"
Although certain amount of interest al
ways attaches to the first effort Of any great
artist however insignificant 1t is when at
an early age Michelangelo lays aside the
brush and the palette for the chsel and the
marble block that his genius begins to assert
itself in earnest. In his own inimtable way
Brandes relates the circumstances that led
to the youths coming under the roof tree
of the great Lorenzo. Wonderful in descrip
ton is the account of what Lorenzo the
Magnificent meant to his day and genera
ton. 1t is impossible to estimate fully the
good fortune that fell to Michelangelo in be-
coming associated with the one who so early
appreciated his genius and knew how to
allow it the most complete expression.
From the moment that Michelangelo sets
eyes on the collection of sculptures belong
ing to the Medicis he never enters a painters
studio. He is completely captivated by the
statues of antiquity Brandes calls the
Palazzo Medici holy place.
1T is in this house." he writes. that mod
ern civilization began it's existence. Here
was the centre for what was then the most
enterprising and intellectual city in the
world. Over the entrance to the court stood
written that this house was consecrated to
the rebirth of science. 1t was here that
Michelangelo as boy sat at table next to
Lorenzo the Magnificent
I'm this house II was Lorenzo himself
who showed and explained to the boy his
art treasures, his gems and his coins. I'm
consciously the youth took in what the
F1orentine painters before his time had
achieved. The naive, that which is now
termed the -Raphaelite, could never have
appealed to him or his generation. And just
as little could he be attracted to the archaic
which captivated Thorvaldsen and his time.
For he aspired after the perfect, and found
il first in statues like Pasquino and the
Torso later in the Laokoon. cxcavated in
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