Chapter Thirty-Four

Rome, 1501

When Michelangelo awoke the next morning, he hoped for a brief second that everything he had witnessed just a few hours earlier had been nothing more than a bad dream. However, when he saw the robe and sandals on the floor and the pile of sketches on his workbench, he knew that he had indeed been a spectator at some sort of Bacchanalian orgy, one organized by no less a personage than the pope himself.

The thought horrified him, but the possibility of ending up in the Tiber at the hands of Cesare or one of his associates terrified him more. Determined to put this episode behind him, he bolted down breakfast and set to work.

Although he had refused to attend the Pope’s ball, Michelangelo nevertheless started with Cardinal della Rovere and began by carving the prelate pleasuring himself as a trio of women looked on. He tried to capture the cardinal’s pride while endowing him with an arrogance found in few men.

He had given Paolo the week off, so he labored without interruption all morning and late into the afternoon. The work was tedious but as the cameos took shape before him, it became rewarding as well. When he stopped to eat, he looked at his creation and smiled. The prelate’s pride was obvious in the sneering smile and the overbearing attitude. The subtle details - the hint of a satyr suggesting a horse, the demonic smile, the wheel behind him, which he blithely ignored - all served to underscore the image of a man so absorbed with himself that the world held little meaning. “You could be a rival for Lucifer,” he thought, and it was at that point that Michelangelo envisioned adding the finishing touch - the wings - thus endowing him with an obvious superiority - all the while underscoring the similarities between this prince of the church and the prince of the devils.

After he had finished the detail work and polished it, he took the cameo and inserted it into the mechanism that Leonardo constructed. Then taking the device he inserted it onto the frame and heard it snap into place. Then he tested it, and to his great joy, he found that it worked splendidly just as the old man had promised it would. Securing it in its place, Michelangelo hid both the cameo in its frame and Leonardo’s key.

He then turned his attention to Cardinal Sforza. The green stone, the suggestion that Sforza’s countenance was more canine than human, the eyes that looked everywhere at once but never saw happiness, all suggested an unquenchable envy. He posed the cardinal behind a naked Mistress Antonia, his hand cupping her breast, but the cardinal’s gaze was on another couple, their backs to him - their happiness evident. Deciding to take a chance, he took his smallest chisel and working very slowly, he scraped carefully all the way down to the intaglio layer so that it seemed as though the cardinal possessed brilliant green eyes. Next, he turned his attention to the mouth, so that Sforza was smiling - but there was no warmth in his face. He completed the image by adding icicles hanging from the top to suggest the coldness of his heart and the complete lack of warmth behind the façade of humanity.

Michelangelo had no idea what time it was, but when he looked at the second cameo, he felt a deep sense of accomplishment. Placing it in its frame, he secured it in place.

Although he felt inspired and considered continuing, he was also exhausted, so once again, he threw himself on his bed fully clothed and was asleep a few minutes later.

When he awoke, sun was streaming through the skylight, and he guessed that it must be close to noon. He sent a boy to the tavern for food and tea and then began work on Cardinal Marti’s cameo. Selecting the stone with the light blue intaglio, he began to carve a bed. On the bed he etched the image of a naked Marti, penis engorged, carefully adding the suggestion that he was sporting the horns of a goat. In the distance, he depicted two naked nymphs gesturing for the cardinal to join them. Then surrounding the bed, he carved serpents - all of whom seemed to be threatening the recumbent cardinal, who remained inert - too lazy to move, even to save himself or to join his consorts. Giving it a critical examination, Michelangelo decided there was little he could do to improve it, so he polished it and placed it in its frame.

Choosing the stone with the brilliant red layer, Michelangelo quickly chiseled down to the white above it. He wanted the images to be smaller than the others because he wanted the scarlet to be the most pronounced element of the work. He depicted Cardinal Fiorza with long flowing hair behind him, such as an animal might have. His mouth was open in a roar and he was swinging his crozier like some sort of club. He was the sole figure in the cameo, and it was obvious that his unbridled fury had isolated him because others were afraid to come near him. Looking at it, Michelangelo had definite reservations. It was decidedly different from the others. As he picked up the next stone, he vowed to return to Fiorza, and he did have an extra red stone if it came to that.

For Cardinal Briconnet, who would embody gluttony, Michelangelo had something special in mind. He had deliberately left the stone with the orange intaglio larger than the others. He sat the cardinal on a log and gave him the cloven hooves of a pig for feet. Although Briconnet was not heavy, Michelangelo depicted him with a gigantic stomach and enormous rolls of fat. Because the body was so different, he spent extra time on the facial features. The thin lips, the Gallic nose and too-close eyes all combined to lend the French cardinal a certain ascetic air that was belied by his body. On the table next to him were plates of rats, toads and snakes - all waiting to be devoured by the ravenous cleric.

Michelangelo was just preparing to etch the various creatures when he heard a knock at his door and a familiar voice called out, “Michelangelo, are you in there?”

He recognized the voice as Cardinal della Rovere. “Uno momento, Your Eminence.” Michelangelo quickly hid his sketches in the secret drawer in his workbench and he would have hidden the cameo there had it fit. He checked the finished cameos and picked up the one containing the image of della Rovere. Checking it once more, he covered it with a green cloth. Then he placed it at the rear of his workbench and set his palette on top of it. Going to the window, he peeked into the street below and saw that the cardinal had not come alone.

With della Rovere waiting at the door, he decided there was nothing to be done but to hope for the best. With that he descended the stairs, threw open the door and said, “Your Eminence, I am honored that you should come to my humble abode.” As he genuflected, della Rovere extended his hand so that Michelangelo could kiss his ring.

After he had entered and looked around, the cardinal said, “When you didn’t visit me yesterday or this morning, I was afraid that you had taken ill, so I decided to check on you myself to see if you needed anything.”

“No, my apologies, your Eminence, but I have been working and sometimes, quite honestly, I get so consumed in the project that I lose all track of time.”

“Are you working on the cameos for His Holiness?” “I am,” said Michelangelo.

“How was the ball? Did you find it inspiring? Do tell me all about it?

“May I offer you something, your eminence?”

“No, not right now. Just tell me everything about the ball. From what I have heard, it was quite the scandalous affair. Have I been misinformed?”

“Not at all,” said Michelangelo. And for the next hour, he recounted everything he had seen and heard from behind the grille of the confessional.

The only time della Rovere interrupted him was to say,

“The pope had Mistress Antonia oversee the contests?”

“Yes, Your Eminence.”

“Well, if nothing else, I must admit he does have excellent taste in whores - for a Spaniard. Continue, my son.”

Michelangelo picked up the story where he had left off, and when he finally finished, della Rovere asked, “And you did not participate?”

“No, your eminence.”

“I am proud of you for resisting the temptations of the flesh, Michelangelo. Now, may I see the fruits of your labor?”

“I usually prefer that the patron be the first person to see the finished work,” said Michelangelo.

“But you are not finished yet, are you?” asked della Rovere. “Besides, Michelangelo, when I am pope, I shall be your patron.”

“You flatter me, Your Eminence.”

“Then let us have a look, shall we?”

“But...

“You don’t have anything to hide, do you Michelangelo?

“Of course not, Your Eminence.”

“Then, let us go to your studio.” With that the cardinal began to ascend the stairs with Michelangelo in tow.

Della Rovere went directly to the workbench and picked up the cameo of Cardinal Marti. He looked at for a long time, and then he began to laugh. “You have captured him, my son. That lazy bastard wouldn’t move to help Christ himself down from the cross.”

Next he turned his attention to the cameo with Cardinal Briconnet. Again, he laughed and said, “This is the essence of that French swine. You are truly gifted, my son.”

After examining the cameo with the angry Cardinal Fioza, della Rovere opined, “This is quite different from the others, but I think the contrast works here.”

Finally, he came to the cameo of Cardinal Sforza. He took it to the window, studying it intently. After several minutes, he turned around and said, “Brilliant! You know I might have been pope had he not sold his vote to Alexander. The detail is stunning and the inclusion of Antonia and the green eyes - we are going to have a long and prosperous relationship when I am on the Throne of Peter.”

“I am glad that Your Eminence is pleased.”

“And you may rest assured that your secrets are safe with me, Michelangelo. I know how vindictive these men can be,”

As he placed the cameo back on the workbench, the cardinal suddenly caught sight of the palette.

He looked at Michelangelo and said, “Are you still painting as well?”

“I try to paint every day, but lately, there has been so little time.”

“I understand completely,” said the cardinal sympathetically.

As he picked up the palette, he said, “Perhaps, some day you will paint me.”

“That would be my honor,” said Michelangelo.

As he turned to replace the palette, della Rovere saw the outline of the box under the cloth. Looking at Michelangelo, he asked, “And what are you hiding here, my son?”

“Nothing, your eminence.”

“Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll take a look at it.” And with that he withdrew the box from under the green cloth.