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This letter of 1 April 1519 from Tommaso di Tolfo is sent from Edirne in Ottoman Turkey to Michelangelo (1475–1564) in Florence. Tolfo, a Florentine merchant in the service of the Ottoman sultan, reports that unlike Bayezid II, who had been hostile to European art, the new sultan, Selim I, who reigned from 1512 to 1520 was – like his forebear Mehmed II – open to the new style of European figurative art. He recommends that Michelangelo take advantage of the opportunity, which would afford him considerable profit. The letter is taken from P. Barocchi and R. Ristori (eds), Il Carteggio di Michelangelo, vol. 2, Florence: Sansoni, 1967, pp. 176–7, translated by Kathleen Christian.

My dear, esteemed Michelangelo, in the past I hadn't written to you because there was nothing to report, and the reason for this letter is that about 15 years ago now I sometimes spent time in conversation with you at the house of Gianozzo Salviati, and if I remember correctly, your wish was to come and see this place, but you were dissuaded from the idea since in those times there was a ruler [Bayezid] who did not like figurative representations of any sort; indeed, he held them in loathing. At the moment, however, our illustrious Lord [Selim] is very much the opposite. And in recent days he acquired a statue, a female nude reclining and holding her head up with her arm, and from what I hear he is very satisfied with it. Baldinacio degli Allesandri had this figure here in his house, and I don’t know where he found it, yet this figure in my opinion is something rather ordinary.

My point is this: that if you are still of the same mind that you were then, I would recommend that you come here immediately, and you would be regarded well here and it would not bring you any loss; rather it would bring you much profit. And you can believe me in this; if I thought otherwise I wouldn’t write it. And if you are thinking of coming you should not hesitate, and when you receive this letter you should set out as soon as you can, through Ragusa, which is the easiest way. And I would pledge to send, before you arrive in Ragusa, a letter of introduction from this Lord, so that his representative in Chocia [Foča] can arrange for a good escort to accompany you to here.