Tomb of Julius II, Michelangelo

< name="ProgId" content="PowerPoint.Slide">Artist: Michelangelo Title: Tomb of Julius II
Location: San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome
Date: 1505

he tomb was originally commissioned in 1505 yet was not completed until 1545 in a much reduced scale:

• 1505 - Commissioned by Julius; Michelangelo spends 6 months choosing marble at Carrara
• 1506 - Michelangelo returns to Rome due to a lack of funds available for the project, and is dismissed by an angry and bitter Julius. Michelangelo moves to Florence until Julius threatens to wage war on the state unless he returns, which he does.
• 1508 - It is rumoured that Bramante and Raphael, apparently jealous of Michelangelo's commission, convince the Pope that it is bad luck to have his tomb built in his lifetime, and that Michelangelo's time would be better spent on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican Palace (assuming that Michelangelo, primarily a sculptor, would have great difficulty in completing a painting of such scale).
• 1512 - Michelangelo completes the Sistine Chapel ceiling project and returns to the tomb.
• 1513 - Between 1512 and 1513, Michelangelo completes three sculptures for the project: the 'Dying Slave' and the 'Rebellious Slave' (now in the Louvre, Paris) and 'Moses' which is now a part of the final design. After these sculptures are completed, Julius dies and the new Pope Leo X abandons the project.
• 1516 - A new contract is agreed between Michelangelo and Julius' heirs who demand the completion of the project.
• 1520s - Carves "The Genius of Victory" and 4 unfinished slaves, which now sit in the Acaddemia in Florence with the David
• 1532 - A second new contract is signed by Michelangelo which involves a wall-tomb.
• 1542 - The wall-tomb is begun by Michelangelo after final details are negotiated with Julius' grandson.
• 1545 - The final tomb is completed, and installed in San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome; it includes the original 'Moses' sculpture along with 'Leah' and 'Rachel' (probably completed by Mich's assistants) on the lower level, and several other sculptures (definitiely not by Michelangelo) on the upper level.

One of Pope Julius II’s largest and most well known commissions was the reconstruction of St. Peter’s Basilica, beginning in 1506. When Julius took the papal office, the condition of the Church was extremely poor, and he took the opportunity to expand it, modernize it, and leave his impression forever on the Vatican. Julius hired Donato Bramante to design the Basilica, a prominent architect and artist of the day. This was seen as a surprise move at the time, many thought Giuliano da Sangallo was the front runner for the commission. Della Rovere wanted the splendor of the new Cathedral to inspire awe in the masses, produce support for Catholicism and prove to his enemies he was a pious and devoted man. Bramante not only would fulfill these expectations with his design, but also with his character, which may explain why della Rovere chose him over Sangallo. “Bramante wanted to build a Basilica that would ‘surpass in beauty, invention, art and design, as well as in grandeur, richness and adornment all the buildings that had been erected in that city’" (Scotti, 47).

Raphael came to work for the Pope because of his friendship with Bramante. Bramante had been in Rome working for the Pope when he sent a letter to Raphael telling him that he had convinced Julius to allow Raphael to paint the Stanza della Segnatura. Raphael who had been working on other commissions in Florence immediately dropped his projects and moved to Rome to work for the Pope, but when he arrived he found many great artists painting in the Stranza della Segnatura. When he finished the Vatican Library, he amazed Julius II so much that according to Vasari he chose "to destroy all the scenes painted by other masters from the past and present, so that Raphael alone would be honoured above all those who laboured on the paints which had been done up to that time"(Vasari, 314).