The heads of statues made by the Greeks are small in proportion to the
body. The "Gladiator" wears a Number Six hat, and the "Discobolus" one
size smaller; yet the figures represent men weighing one hundred eighty
pounds each. The Greeks aimed to satisfy the eye, and as the man is
usually seen clothed, they reduced the size of the head when they showed
the nude figure.

But Michelangelo was true to Nature, and the severest criticism ever
brought against him is that he is absolutely loyal to truth. He was the
first man ever to paint or model the slim, slender form of a child that
has left its round baby shape behind and is shooting up like a
lily-stalk. A nude, hardy boy six years old reveals ankle-bones, kneecap,
sharp hips, ribs, collar-bone and shoulder-blade with startling fidelity.
And why, being Nature's work, it is any less lovely than a condition of
soft, cushioned adipose, we must let the critics tell, but Michelangelo
thought it wasn't.

From Fourteen Hundred Ninety-six, when Michelangelo first arrived in
Rome, to Fifteen Hundred Four, he worked at nothing but sculpture. But
now a change came over his restless spirit, for an invitation had come
from the Gonfaloniere of Florence to decorate one of the rooms of the
Town Hall, in competition with Leonardo da Vinci--the only Leonardo.

He painted that strong composition showing Florentine soldiers bathing in
the Arno. The scene depicts the surprise of the warriors as a trumpet
sounds, calling them to battle with the enemy that is near at hand. The
subject was chosen because it gave opportunity for exploiting the
artist's marvelous knowledge of anatomy. Thirty figures are shown in
various attitudes. Nearly all are nude, and as they scramble up the bank,