The history of the popes, from the close of the middle ages : drawn ...

THE BELVEDERE COLLECTION. Ill
have pagan images in his palace. In view of the enthusiasm
for sculpture then prevalent in Rome it is not surprising that
this proposal of the Pope should have aroused much opposition,
even from many of the Cardinals, and it was due to their
remonstrances that the famous antiques of the gallery of
statues in the Belvedere were retained in the Vatican. Pius,
however, gave wa}^ to the entreaties of the Cardinals on con-
dition that the collection should remain closed to the public. ^
An inventory, compiled on February nth, 1566, of the
antiques which were to be made over to the Roman people,
includes 127 pieces, among which, it is worthy of note, was
even the statue of St. Hippolytus. On February 27th a further
list of about twenty busts and statues was added. ^ The
^ See the *report of Cusano of February 16, 1566 (which escaped
the notice even of Michaelis, the best authority on this matter),
" che non
according to which the words used by Pius V. were :
conveniva a chi era successore di Pietro tener simili idoh in casa . .
et perche ve ne sono alcune servate delle piu rare par pur' che ad
instantia di molti cardinah che gUelo chiesero in gratia speciale
S. S*^ si sia contentata ci restino ma con fatto stiano sempre
chiuse." Cusano goes on to relate that when Cardinal Farnese
pointed out to the Pope that it would be desirable to give to the
Emperor the 12 busts (che sono per moderni cosa rarissima) which
had been copied in the time of Pius IV. from antique busts of
the Emperors, Pius V. assented (State Archives, Vienna). The
letters of Arco on this subject were published by Michaelis
(Statuenhof, 63) ; his doubt as to whether the last letter, which
tells how the busts had been sent to Spain, belongs to 1568 or
1569, is settled by an *Avviso di Roma of January 24, 1568, which
states : *" Li 12 imperatori, che con tanta diUgentia erano
custoditi in Belvedere da Pio IV., sono stati tutti incassati et si
mandono per ordine del Papa a donare al re catholico." Urb.
1040, p. 479b, Vatican Library. Ibid. 169b, an *Avviso of
February 9, 1566, with the notice : *" II papa ha donato tutte
le statue di Belvedere al popolo Romano con non poco dispiacere
deUe creature di Pio IV."
* These lists in Bicci, Boccapaduli, 115 seq., from which is
taken the new edition of Michaelis, Statuenhof, 60 seq., with a
note of those Mhich were sent to the Capitol, and of those sent
+0 Florence.