for his life. He arrived in Bologna penniless and friendless, and applied
to a sculptor for work. "What can you do?" the old sculptor asked. For
answer, Michelangelo silently took a crayon and sketched a human hand on
the wall. Marvelous were the lines! The master put his arms around the
boy and kissed his cheek.

This new-found friend took him into his house, and placed him at his own
table. Michelangelo was led into the library and workrooms, and told
that all was his to use as he liked.

The two years he remained at Bologna were a great benefit to the young
man. The close contact with cultured minds, and the encouragement he
received, spurred his spirit to increased endeavor. It was here that he
began that exquisite statue of a Cupid that passed for an antique, and
found its way into the cabinet of the Duchess of Mantua.

Before long the discovery was made that the work was done by a young man
only a little past twenty, and Cardinal San Giorgio sent a message
inviting him to Rome.

* * * * *

Rome had long been the Mecca of the boy's ambitions, and he joyously
accepted the invitation. At Rome he was lodged in the Vatican, and
surrounded by that world of the beautiful, he went seriously about his
life's work. The Church must have the credit for being the mother of
modern art. Not only did she furnish the incentive, but she supplied the
means. She gave security from the eternal grind of material wants and
offered men undying fame as reward for noble effort.