Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/410

358 the Vatican, a short time before the Pope's death. Here the faces are cold and inexpressive, and the figures, in spite of their violent action and distorted attitudes, are wanting in life and vigour. The decay of power is evident, and we think sadly of the seven years of "great effort and fatigue" which they cost the aged master. When he finished these frescoes, Michelangelo was already seventy-five, and as he told Vasari, "fresco-painting was not fit work for old men."

His last years were chiefly devoted to architectural works. In 1547, Paul III. appointed him architect of St. Peter's, and he held this office under five successive Popes, without accepting any salary, "solely out of love to God and reverence for the Prince of the Apostles." In vain Duke Cosimo de' Medici sent Vasari and Cellini to implore him to return to Florence. No offers or entreaties could induce him to desert his post.

After Michelangelo's death, however, the building was entirely re-modelled, the plan of a Latin cross was substituted for the Greek one which he had designed, and Bernini's modern façade was allowed to destroy the imposing effect of the cupola which he had modelled. It is only when we look down on the