Page:The Life of Michael Angelo.djvu/197

 Such was the indifference with which Michael Angelo, when near the end of his days, regarded his works.

Since the death of Vittoria no great affection brightened up his life. Love had fled.

He had lost his brothers and his best friends. Luigi del Riccio had died in 1546, Sebastiano del Piombo in 1547, his brother Giovan Simone in 1548. He had never been in very close relations with his youngest brother, Sigismondo, who died in 1555. His familiar and crabbed affection he had centred on his orphan niece and nephew, the children of Buonarroto, the brother whom he loved the most. The girl's name was Cecca (Francesca), the boy's Leonardo. Michael Angelo placed Cecca in a convent, gave her a trousseau, paid for her board and lodging, and, when she married, gave her one of his possessions as a dowry. He personally looked after the education of Leonardo, who was nine years of age at the death of his father. A long correspondence, which often recalls that