Page:The Life of Michael Angelo.djvu/54

28 than his excessive excitement subsided. Returning to Bologna, where he spent the winter, he entirely forgot the prophet and his prophecies. The beauty of the world once more claimed his attention. He read Petrarca, Boccaccio and Dante. In the spring of 1495, during the Shrovetide religious fêtes, and the fierce struggle of rival parties, he returned to Florence. But he was now so detached from the passions which raged around him that, as a sort of reply to the fanaticism of the followers of Savonarola, he carved his famous "Sleeping Cupid," which his contemporaries mistook for an antique. He remained, however, but a few months in Florence; he went to Rome, and until the death of Savonarola he was the most pagan of artists. He produced a Bacchus, an Adonis, and the large Cupid the very year of Savonarola's Bonfire of Vanities—books, ornaments and works of art. His brother, the monk Leonardo, was being prosecuted for his faith in the prophet. Danger was hanging over Savonarola's head. But Michael Angelo did not return to Florence to defend him. Savonarola was burnt, but Michael Angelo remained silent. Not a trace of this event is to be found in any of his letters.