The three men are quiet for the moment, standing together in the Stanza della Segnatura in the papal residence in Vatican City. Each silently appraises Raphael's fresco, Scuola di Atene, the School of Athens. Raphael breaks the silence.
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, Scuola di Atene, fresco, 1509-10 (as seen from below, in the Stanza della Segnatura)
Ah, Michelangelo. Why do you always have to be such a grouch? At least our guest has the courtesy to be diplomatic when he feels inclined to criticize.
Bernini, laughing:
For as long as I have known the names of Michelangelo and Raffaello, I have imagined the squabbles between the two of you. Michelangelo, the gruff curmudgeon, and Raffaello, irresistibly charming. What a pleasure it is to meet you both (extends his hand over Michelangelo's shoulder in a comradely embrace). Come, come Signore Buonarroti.
Michelangelo:
Oh, bugger off, both of you. I didn't say it was terrible. But it still pisses me off to see these dainty forgeries of my figures in the Sistine. I mean just look what you've done with your image of me! He might as well be one of my prophets or sibyls. You and your pal Bramante, that bum. Just because he has the key to the chapel ... that's no excuse to let you in to copy my work! Do people think that it was you who revolutionized painting? Ha.
Michelangelo, the Prophet Jeremiah, Sistine ceiling, 1508-12
Michelangelo, the Prophet Daniel, Sistine ceiling, 1508-12
Raphael
But surely you know that my tribute to you in this painting is simply a small token of my great respect and admiration for you and your achievements.
Bernini
And, Michelangelo, it was inevitable that the Sistine – a work of such towering genius – would influence others. In many ways I owe my own success to you – just look at the muscular and contorted figures I have created.
– and in recent decades, there have been so many who tried to follow your lead that the writers and historians now call the period Mannerist ... in the manner of Michelangelo. Pontormo and Fiorentino have made some marvellous paintings.
Remember what happened to the cartoons for your Battle of Cascina? Artists from all over came to scavenge pieces from the drawings you left when you were called to Rome, and now they are lost forever. You cannot escape the fact that others have imitated or interpreted your style. How can that displease you?
Michelangelo, (quietly, blushing slightly, and with obvious distaste, he confesses):
I suppose ... I suppose I am pleased that others look to me for inspiration. But it never occurred to me that anyone would ever produce work as good as mine. That is what I find intolerable. It seems that a few, only a few, have almost equalled me. Perhaps (to Bernini) you are one of the few. (now scowling dismissively) Perhaps not.
(shaking off any evidence of humility) ... but whether Raphael's painting is cloying, or yours is kitschy (the others smile) should not be the focus of our discussion, I think. We may not be able to avoid talking about these unpleasant possibilities, but, as I understand it, we have been brought together to see what we can offer by way of advice to this fellow who paints in a Post-Modernist style. It's an interesting problem though. How can stylistic ideas from our time be incorporated into work that seems to bear no resemblance to anything we have created?
Bernini:
Well, yes ... and just as interesting is the suggestion that ideas from your work might co-exist with ideas from mine, or Raphael's. What would that look like?
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