For more than two years Pope Julius had endured a great humiliation. Its name was Venice. Venice was the second-largest city in Europe after Paris, and by far the richest because of its sea trade. The Venetians were strong militarily as well as financially. They didn’t mind exploiting weaknesses, including those of the pope, whenever [...]
Defying a Pope (1)
Michelangelo tried to forget about Pope Julius, the chapel, Leonardo, and everything else. The only thing he wanted to do was work on his sculptures. His first statue, the awakening slave, was quickly taking shape. He was also working on a second statue—a young slave, a boy who was about to become a man. When [...]
Bramante’s Plot Against Michelangelo (3)
The Sistine Chapel was lit by early morning light. Michelangelo didn’t know where to look first. The walls were covered with frescoes. Slowly he walked around the chapel, studying all of the paintings on the walls. They told stories from the lives of Moses and Jesus. While Michelangelo looked at the frescoes the pope studied [...]
