Michelangelo worked continuously throughout the rest of his life on the Basilica. It was also during this time he was commissioned to paint the fresco of the Last Judgement on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, a project that would take seven years. Despite his support for the republic, he was welcomed by Pope Clement and given a new contract for the tomb of Pope Julius II. Having worked prior to the siege for the defense of Florence, Michelangelo feared for his life and fled back to Rome. During those two decades, he would also complete an architectural commission for the Laurentian Library.Īfter the sack of Rome by Charles V in 1527, Florence was declared a republic and stayed under siege until 1530. In 1520, he received another commission for a Medici chapel in the Basilica of San Lorenzo on which he worked intermittently for the next twenty years. He spent the next three years on it before the project was cancelled due to lack of funds. Michelangelo reluctantly accepted the commission.įollowing Pope Julius II's death in 1513 Michelangelo was commissioned by the new Pope Leo X to work on the façade of the Basilica San Lorenzo, the largest church in Florence. He hoped this would cause the artist to fall out of popular favor. Bramante was notoriously consumed by envy, and knowing that Michelangelo was better known for his sculptures rather than paintings, was certain that his rival would fail. Peter's Basilica, was the one to convince the Pope that Michelangelo was the man for the job. The project was the painting of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling and rumor has it that Bramante, the architect in charge of rebuilding St. Yet, the artist would abandon the project after being cajoled by the Pope for another commission. In Rome, Michelangelo started work on the Pope's tomb, work that was to be completed within a five-year timeline.
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Never one to be bested by his rivals, he accepted the invitation. Michelangelo was seduced by the flamboyant reputation of the patron Pope who was luring other artist peers such as Donato Bramante and Raphael to create exciting new projects. Michelangelo's work on The Battle of Cascina was interrupted in the preparatory drawing stage when Pope Julius II summoned him to Rome. Leonardo's The Battle of Anghiari was painted over when Vasari later reconstructed the Palazzo. Both paintings were never finished and are unfortunately lost. In 1503, Piero Soderini, the lifetime Gonfalonier of Justice (senior civil servant akin to a Mayor), commissioned them both to paint two opposing walls of the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio. Leonardo da Vinci had quickly risen to fame and the competition between he and Michelangelo was legendary. The artist's impetuous nature was already garnering him the reputation of being one who indignantly did what he wanted, oftentimes eschewing his patron's wishes or failing to complete work once started. Michelangelo was indignant - so much so that he later asked his biographer Condivi to deny the commission was from the Cardinal and instead to record it as a commission from his banker, Jacopo Galli. For this commission, Michelangelo created a statue of Bacchus, which was rejected by the Cardinal who thought it politically imprudent to be associated with a pagan nude figure.
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Although annoyed at being duped, the Cardinal was impressed enough by Michelangelo's workmanship to invite him to Rome for another commission. The Cupid was sold to Cardinal Riario of San Giorgio, passed off as an antique sculpture. Michelangelo returned to Florence in 1494 after the threat of the French invasion abated. Petronius, a kneeling angel holding a candlestick, and St. Dominic, which included the addition of a statue of St. It was in Bologna that he received a commission to finish the carving of the Tomb of St. But when the Florentine city became embroiled in political turmoil, the Medici family was expelled and the artist moved to Bologna. Following the death of Lorenzo di Medici in 1492 Michelangelo remained with relative security in Florence.