For some months I must make demands upon my powers of patience until the mountains are tamed and the men instructed.

Afterwards we shall proceed more quickly.

Enough, that I mean to do what I promised, and shall produce the finest thing that Italy has ever seen, if God assists me." There is no want of heart and spirit in these letters.

Irritable at moments, Michelangelo was at bottom enthusiastic, and, like Napoleon Buonaparte, felt capable of conquering the world with his sole arm.
In September we find him back again at Florence, where he seems to have spent the winter.

His friends wanted him to go to Rome; they thought that his presence there was needed to restore the confidence of the Medici and to overpower calumniating rivals.