"I had such faith in him that I thought he could have cast the statue without fire.

Nevertheless, there is no denying that he is an able craftsman, and that he worked with good-will.

Well, he has failed, to my loss and also to his own, seeing he gets so much blame that he dares not lift his head up in Bologna." The second casting must have taken place about the 8th of July; for on the 10th Michelangelo writes that it is done, but the clay is too hot for the result to be reported, and Bernardino left yesterday.

When the statue was uncovered, he was able to reassure his brother: "My affair might have turned out much better, and also much worse.

At all events, the whole is there, so far as I can see; for it is not yet quite disengaged.