Although he hadn't seen him for a few months, Michelangelo was clearly the more or less eccentric-looking young man, his unkempt dusty hair and perpetually dirty clothes made him look less like a future master and more like a coolie in a quarry.

In particular, he felt too powerful, and when he grabbed Alexander, it seemed that he was going to drag him to the ground.

"Oh, you know, I got on the ship and went straight to Rome before you left Sicily," Michelangelo cried out excitedly, as if not caring about the guards on the steps who were staring at him, "I really want to thank you, my friend, for the money you gave me for helping me a lot, and for paying for the ship and giving me a place to stay in Rome." ”

Michelangelo said aloud that he didn't seem to care what others heard, and even pointed to Alexander when someone passed by, saying, "Look at my friend, whose generosity made it possible for me to come to Rome, to meet this true friend, I tell you that there are not many people who are willing to help others nowadays." ”

Alexander looked at Michelangelo with a smile until he finally calmed down a little, then gently patted his arm and said, "If you really appreciate me, then let it go first, I feel like my arm is going to be broken by you." ”

"Oh, I'm sorry friend," Michelangelo quickly let go, but then, as if afraid that Alexander would suddenly disappear, he reached out and grabbed it again, only this time he relaxed a little, "You probably don't know, I have a hunch that you will definitely come to Rome." ”

As he spoke, Michelangelo pulled Alexander under the scaffolding, he raised his hand and pointed to a building opposite in the distance and said excitedly: "You probably don't know how grateful I am to you, I have a little fame in Rome now, but you gave me all this, if it weren't for your generosity, I would still be carving those clumsy statues for churches in Sicily." ”

"Don't say that," Alexander had a chance to speak at this point, "you would have come to Rome without me, and I said you would be appreciated, you have a talent for it." ”

"Maybe I really have talent," Michelangelo laughed, he was obviously quite satisfied with his life now, especially when he pointed to the building in the distance, his eyes couldn't help but show excitement, "you probably don't know what the Pope is planning, let me tell you, Your Majesty is going to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica, note not to repair, but to rebuild, it will be an incomparably huge project, maybe we may not see the day when this great palace is rebuilt in our lifetime, But the project was worth it, and it would become a monumental work in the future, and the Pope had decided to let me participate in the construction of the project. ”

"That's a great thing to celebrate."

Alexander was a little surprised and said that he certainly knew that Michelangelo was right, that the future St. Peter's Basilica had indeed become the most important and sacred church in the whole of Christendom.

Even in a sense, even Jerusalem, as a holy place, is more endowed with a great sense of history, while the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica have become holy places in the true sense of the word of the Catholic Church.

It was only strange to Alexander that in his memory, the construction of St. Peter's Basilica began after the reign of Julius II, now Archbishop of Genoa, Giuliano della Rovere, and that the construction was so costly that even the Holy See was close to bankruptcy, and if it had not been for the generosity of countless devout believers, or the fact that the Holy See had taken the opportunity to knock on a lot of bamboo, perhaps this grand project would have been forced to be completed several years later.

It was one of the main assets that Julius II boasted of, since the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica, both in the Roman period and in other later periods, was carried out under the impetus of powerful popes and secular monarchs.

It is for this reason that Julius II rebuilt St. Peter's Basilica to show everyone his prestige and supreme religious status.

But now, he heard Michelangelo say that Alexander VI was preparing to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica, which surprised Alexandria, and what was even more strange was that Michelangelo was now allowed to participate in the construction of St. Peter's Basilica, which also made him feel incredible.

Although the historical St. Peter's Basilica was finally built by Michelangelo after several changes, Michelangelo was already a well-known master at that time, and the current "Millet" is still just a young man who has just arrived in Rome and has no name.

Although he should have been somewhat emerging at this time, compared with more than ten years later, Michelangelo is at most a promising rising star.

And most importantly, why did St. Peter's Basilica start to be rebuilt now?

Alexander was a little dazed, he didn't know if something had happened, or if the cathedral had to be rebuilt at this time from the beginning, and it was only for various reasons that it would be postponed until ten years later.

But now he didn't have time to think about these things that had nothing to do with him, Michelangelo was excitedly pulling him along the edge of the Vatican Palace, and it was obvious that he was a little too excited to meet the old man, but from his words, Alexander also felt a certain kind of excitement that seemed to be a release of catharsis.

"Here, this is it," Michelangelo said, jumping on a piece of marble that served as a pedestal for the sculpture, and pointing up to the low building between the Vatican Palace and the old basilica of St. Peter's in the distance. ”

"Designing a prayer hall?" Alexander looked at Michelangelo with some surprise: "I remember you said that you were in charge of designing the cathedral. ”

Michelangelo's rough face immediately turned red, and he immediately lowered his head like a child whose speech had been exposed, and kicked the edge of the pedestal protrusion under his feet with his toes.

"Actually, I'm just doing it to others," said Michelangelo, a little embarrassed, and then he immediately argued, "but I am satisfied, knowing that when I dedicate my 'St. Peter' to my patron, I have received a high degree of praise, and because of this work my patron thinks that I am qualified to be one of the architects of St. Peter's Basilica, although only for a relatively small job, but I am already very happy, after all, I am still young, and I do not dare to compare myself with the great masters." ”

You don't have to compare, you're the greatest master yourself. Alexander looked at Michelangelo, who was a little shy, and couldn't help but feel a strange feeling in his heart, and he didn't understand how he was willing to spend money to sponsor this unreliable young man to come to Rome, maybe just to see if this young man really bloomed his most brilliant color for this special era as he had ever appeared in history.

Now it seems that Michelangelo was indeed an extraordinary genius, and in less than half a year, he has become one of the designers who can participate in the magnificent project of rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica.

"But even though I'm only responsible for designing the prayer halls, I'm sure I'll have a lot to be proud of, especially when I think that one day the pieces I carved will be in the corridor leading to the cathedral, and I believe that's enough to make me proud of myself." Michelangelo said excitedly, and drew a big circle in front of his eyes, and then he looked at Alexander, with a grateful look in his eyes, "But I must admit that you brought me all this, if it wasn't for your original gift, I wouldn't have come to Rome so soon, maybe I wouldn't have gotten those golden opportunities, so my friend I will definitely repay you." ”

"You don't have to repay me," Alexander shook his head slightly, "with your talent, even without me, you will get ahead." ”

Speaking of this, Alexander thought for a while, and finally couldn't help but continue curiously: "But I'm a little curious about what you're talking about in the prayer hall?" Are you going to build a house in front of the cathedral? ”

"yes, what's so strange about that?" Michelangelo asked.

"But shouldn't it be a square completely surrounded by the cathedral and the palaces on either side?"

"Square?" Michelangelo looked at Alexander in amazement, as if he was puzzled by this idea: "How can you think so, a square, what does that look like?" ”

Alexander opened his mouth slightly, he realized that he had slipped his mouth, but he was not worried about Michelangelo's thoughts, but he found that the Basilica of St. Peter, which Michelangelo described to him, did not seem to be the same as the one he was familiar with.

"A square is a ......" Alexander pondered, picked up a dead branch from the ground and began to draw, of course, the thing he painted was completely shapeless, but the general appearance was still there, and the pattern of a square with St. Peter's Basilica as the front center was vaguely distinguishable under the outline of his branches.

"Aren't you going to build such a church, do you want to connect the cathedral with the whole Vatican Palace?" Alexander asked with some curiosity, he really wondered what the designers thought, although St. Peter's Basilica in memory is completely different from what it is now, but if it is really as Michelangelo said, what may be built in the future may be completely different from the cathedral that will be built for hundreds of years to come, and finally become familiar to people.

"How did you come up with this, how could there be a square," Michelangelo looked at Alexander strangely, "I know that the Greeks are a little strange, or that you are a bohemian, but I really did not expect you to have the talent to be an architect, and I admit that your idea is very interesting, but the current design is from the great Bramante, although he himself is not in Rome now, but the master is indeed unmatched by anyone, and he is deeply appreciated by the Pope, He is also the master builder I admire the most. ”

When he heard Michelangelo's reverent tone when he mentioned Bramante, Alexander was slightly surprised, looking at the young man as if he was an idol with that kind of reverence, especially when he looked back at the old palace of the cathedral in the distance, Alexander opened his lips and wanted to tell this young man who was looking forward to getting the guidance of his idol that one day he would not only become a competitor to the idol he admired so much, but also for a long time afterward, Bramante will be an enemy who will cause him a lot of trouble.

After thinking about it, Alexander finally didn't speak.

Maybe it's better to let it happen naturally, Alexander pondered.

"Oh, look what is wrong with me," Michelangelo patted his head as if he had just remembered something, and then Alexander seemed to see a cloud of smoke rising from above his head, "to talk about his own business, and to argue with you about the cathedral, which is not the right thing to do for an old friend." ”

The stonemason patted Alexander on the shoulder vigorously as he spoke, and immediately left a few gray-white handprints on his clean coat: "Tell me when you came to Rome, and what you are doing now, I still remember your little wife, did you come with her this time?" ”

"We're here together, and we have some friends, but she's out of town right now." Alexander said with a smile.

"I want to repay your friend," Michelangelo suddenly looked at Alexander with a very serious expression, "I will never forget the help you helped me at the beginning, and I have not forgotten that we once wanted to leave Sicily by boat, but then we were not able to get on the same boat because of some things." Now I will repay you by introducing you to my patron, a generous man who is powerful enough to make you do in Rome, as you did in Sicily. ”

Alexander looked at Michelangelo with a little amusement, saying that the help he had in Palermo was more of a sense of history, or simply a sense of accomplishment that seemed to affect the life of a person like Michelangelo, but if he really wanted something from him, he didn't have any special ideas for a while.

So now, when he saw that the stubborn young stonemason was serious about repaying him, Alexander had no other special feeling than amusement.

It's just Millerangelo's next words that made Alexander move slightly.

"My patron is the Venerable Bishop of Valencia." 21010