"The Cardinal informed me that the Pope had given the Hall of the Pontiffs to Raffaello's 'prentices, and they have begun with a figure in oils upon the wall, a marvellous production which eclipses all the rooms painted by their master, and proves that when it is finished, this hall will beat the record, and be the finest thing done in painting since the ancients.
Then he asked if I had read your letter.

I said, No.

He laughed loudly, as though at a good joke, and I quitted him with compliments.
Bandinelli, who is copying the Laocoon, tells me that the Cardinal showed him your letter, and also showed it to the Pope; in fact, nothing is talked about at the Vatican except your letter, and it makes everybody laugh." He adds that he does not think the hall ought to be committed to young men.

Having discovered what sort of things they meant to paint there, battle-pieces and vast compositions, he judges the scheme beyond their scope.

Michelangelo alone is equal to the task.