But he never calls a lady by the name of _cavaliere._ It is also indubitable that the Tuscans occasionally addressed the female or male object of their adoration under the title of _signore,_ lord of my heart and soul.

But such instances weigh nothing against the direct testimony of a contemporary like Varchi, into whose hands Michelangelo's poems came at the time of their composition, and who was well acquainted with the circumstances of their composition.

There is, moreover, a fact of singular importance bearing on this question, to which Signor Guasti has not attached the value it deserves.

In a letter belonging to the year 1549, Michelangelo thanks Luca Martini for a copy of Varchi's commentary on his sonnet, and begs him to express his affectionate regards and hearty thanks to that eminent scholar for the honour paid him.

In a second letter addressed to G.F.
Fattucci, under date October 1549, he conveys "the thanks of Messer Tomao de' Cavalieri to Varchi for a certain little book of his which has been printed, and in which he speaks very honourably of himself, and not less so of me." In neither of these letters does Michelangelo take exception to Varchi's interpretation of Sonnet xxxi.