Page:The Life of Michael Angelo.djvu/205

 Italy. He vied in wit with the poet Francesco Berni; he corresponded with Benedetto Varchi; and he exchanged poems with Luigi del Riccio and Donato Giannotti. People sought to hear his conversation, his profound observations on art, and his remarks on Dante, whom no one knew better than he. A Roman lady wrote that he was, when he liked, "a gentleman of elegant and seductive manners, so much so that there hardly existed his equal in Europe." The dialogues of Giannotti and Francis of Holland show his exquisite politeness and familiarity with society. One can even see from certain letters written to princes that he could easily have become a perfect courtier. The world never