He would taint you With heresy, and in a time like this! 'T is infamous! MICHAEL ANGELO.
I represent the angels Without their heavenly glory, and the saints Without a trace of earthly modesty.
BENVENUTO.
Incredible audacity! MICHAEL ANGELO.
The heathen Veiled their Diana with some drapery, And when they represented Venus naked They made her by her modest attitude, Appear half clothed.

But I, who am a Christian, Do so subordinate belief to art That I have made the very violation Of modesty in martyrs and in virgins A spectacle at which all men would gaze With half-averted eyes even in a brothel.
BENVENUTO.
He is at home there, and he ought to know What men avert their eyes from in such places; From the Last Judgment chiefly, I imagine.
MICHAEL ANGELO.
But divine Providence will never leave The boldness of my marvellous work unpunished; And the more marvellous it is, the more 'T is sure to prove the ruin of my fame! And finally, if in this composition I had pursued the instructions that he gave me Concerning heaven and hell and paradise, In that same letter, known to all the world, Nature would not be forced, as she is now, To feel ashamed that she invested me With such great talent; that I stand myself A very idol in the world of art.
He taunts me also with the Mausoleum Of Julius, still unfinished, for the reason That men persuaded the inane old man It was of evil augury to build His tomb while he was living; and he speaks Of heaps of gold this Pope bequeathed to me, And calls it robbery;--that is what he says.
What prompted such a letter?
BENVENUTO.
Vanity.
He is a clever writer, and he likes To draw his pen, and flourish it in the face Of every honest man, as swordsmen do Their rapiers on occasion, but to show How skilfully they do it.

Had you followed The advice he gave, or even thanked him for it, You would have seen another style of fence.
'T is but his wounded vanity, and the wish To see his name in print.

So give it not A moment's thought; it soon will be forgotten.
MICHAEL ANGELO.
I will not think of it, but let it pass For a rude speech thrown at me in the street, As boys threw stones at Dante.
BENVENUTO.
And what answer Shall I take back to Grand Duke Cosimo?
He does not ask your labor or your service; Only your presence in the city of Florence, With such advice upon his work in hand As he may ask, and you may choose to give.
MICHAEL ANGELO.
You have my answer.

Nothing he can offer Shall tempt me to leave Rome.