He began the two great apses of the transept; and whereas Bramante, Raffaello, and Peruzzi had designed eight tabernacles toward the Campo Santo, which arrangement Sangallo adhered to, he reduced them to three, with three chapels inside." The sect of Sangallo, headed by Nanni di Baccio Bigio, continued to annoy and conspire against the aged architect, and though Michael Angelo brought their machinations to the notice of the Superintendent of the Fabric in 1547,( 162) he could not get his chief enemy dismissed.
The master's good friend, Pope Paul III., died in 1549.

Michael Angelo wrote of him to his nephew( 163): "It is true that I have suffered great sorrow and not less loss by the Pope's death, because I have received benefits from his Holiness, and hoped for even more.

God's will be done.
We must have patience.

His death was beautiful, fully conscious to the last word.

God have mercy on his soul." His successor, Julius III., was also friendly to Michael Angelo, who spoke of him in a letter to his old friend, Giovan Francesco Fattucci, at Florence.( 164) "_To_ MESSER GIOVAN FRANCESCO FATTUCCI, _priest of Santa Maria del Fiore, My most dear friend at Florence._ "MESSER GIOVAN FRANCESCO,--Dear friend, although for many months we have not written to each other, yet I have not forgotten our long and faithful friendship, and wish you well, as I have always done, and love you with all my heart and more, for the endless kindnesses I have received.