t I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him."Michelangelo would not accept any payment for this sacred task. He soon had to face his numerous enemies: the "Sangallo clan," construction suppliers and contractors whose fraudulent practices Sangallo had always connived at. So, Michelangelo freed Saint Peter's from thieves and bandits. Since his very first visit to the site, he criticized the model designed by Sangallo, declaring that it had been blinded, devoid of light, that there were too many columns piled up on one on top of each other-- and that with so many projections, pinnacle turrets and various fragments of all kinds, it looked more like a German edifice than a monument inspired by the Antiquity or even by a beautiful modern school. Furthermore, asserted the Master, it was possible to spare fifty years of construction time and save over three hundred thousand ducats of expense."I spend my days supervising the construction of St. Peter's. The Vatican's financial superintendent keeps harassing me for a progress report. My response: your lordship, I am not obliged to, nor do I intend to, tell you anything. Your job is to keep the money rolling in, and out of the hands of thieves. I will see to the building."The architect Piero Ligorio had just entered Paul IV's service. He began to torment Michelangelo again, repeating everywhere that he was growing senile. His intrigues made the sculptor furious. He wished to return to Florence, and was about to do so, but Giorgio Vasari wrote him again and encouraged him to pursue the building of Saint-Peter's. Of course, Michelangelo felt the burden of old age; he often repeated that he had reached his last hour and that no thought was born in him where death did not figure. Thus, in one of his letters, he wrote:"So, Vasari, God wants me to encumber him for a few more years. I know you ...
