Tomb of Pope Julius II
The Tomb of Pope Julius II, which is in fact a cenotaph, is an architectural and sculptural project by Michelangelo Buonarroti. In its final, reduced form, it is located in the basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II to design and execute a monumental sepulchral monument in 1505, but work on the project was repeatedly postponed and did not begin in earnest until 1542. Over the nearly four decades between the initial commission and the completion of the reduced version in 1545, the project underwent numerous revisions and interruptions.
What was originally conceived as a freestanding rectangular mausoleum containing more than forty statues was ultimately scaled down to a wall tomb comprising only seven statues, of which three were executed by Michelangelo himself. Among these, only the Moses is regarded as fully representative of his artistic achievement. Michelangelo's official biographer, Ascanio Condivi, records that the artist considered this single statue sufficient to confer distinction upon the monument, stating that it alone was enough to bring honor to the tomb of Pope Julius II.
The protracted history of the project was marked by significant difficulties, including repeated delays, contractual disputes, and reductions in scale. Michelangelo himself referred to the endeavor as the "tragedy of the tomb", and Condivi described it as having brought the artist "infinite difficulties, displeasures, and troubles and, what is worse, infamy due to the malice of certain men, from which he was barely exonerated after many years".
First project (1505)
It was probably Giuliano da Sangallo who informed Pope Julius II, who had been elected two years earlier, of Michelangelo's achievements in Florence, particularly the sculpture of the colossal David. The pope subsequently summoned the artist to Rome. Michelangelo's departure required him to suspend several projects then in progress in Florence, including a series of twelve marble apostles intended for the Duomo and a large-scale cartoon for the fresco of the Battle of Cascina, commissioned for the Palazzo Vecchio.Pope Julius II pursued an ambitious program of government that closely linked political objectives with artistic patronage. He assembled a circle of leading artists with the explicit aim of restoring to Rome and the papal authority the grandeur associated with the ancient imperial past.
Michelangelo was commissioned to design and execute a monumental tomb for the pope, intended for installation in the tribune, then under construction, of St. Peter's Basilica. An agreement regarding the design and compensation of 10,000 ducats was reached within approximately two months. Following the formal approval of the project and the receipt of a substantial advance payment, Michelangelo proceeded to select marble blocks from the quarries.
The first design is known primarily through the written accounts of Ascanio Condivi and Giorgio Vasari, which, despite certain discrepancies in their descriptions, provide a general understanding of its scope and configuration. The proposed structure was a freestanding architectural complex with a rectangular base measuring approximately 10.8 by 7.2 meters and rising to a height of about 8 meters in its lowest register. It consisted of three progressively narrower orders, creating the effect of an architectural and sculptural pyramid. Approximately forty larger-than-life-size statues were to surround the pope's elevated catafalque, with sculptural elements distributed across all four faces of the monument.
The lower register was to incorporate between two and four niches, each containing a statue of a winged Victory flanked by chained male nude figures, referred to in the sources as the "Prisoners" and modeled on Roman representations of captivi, positioned against pilasters and surmounted by busts. The upper register was to feature four large seated figures, including a Moses, a Saint Paul, and personifications of the Active Life and the Contemplative Life. These figures, whether placed at the corners or along the shorter sides, were intended to draw the viewer's attention upward to the summit, where a semi-reclining statue of the pope on a catafalque was to be accompanied by bronze reliefs and two allegorical figures, identified by Condivi as angels and by Vasari as Heaven and Earth. The actual sarcophagus was to be housed within an internal oval sacellum, accessible through a portal or portals on one or both of the shorter sides. The positioning of the papal statue, guided from the tomb by two angels, was intended to evoke the resurrection of the deceased at the Last Judgment, a motif comparable to that employed in the by Giovanni Pisano.
The monument was planned for a location within St. Peter's Basilica corresponding to the site of the present-day baldachin, a position of exceptional prominence that the pope, following the initial phase of the project, may have come to reconsider.
Conflict with the Pope
Michelangelo proceeded to the quarries of Carrara, where he personally selected the marble blocks to be used for the monument, a task that occupied him from May to December 1505. During his absence, opposition to the project emerged among certain members of the papal artistic circle. Michelangelo's rapid rise to prominence following his arrival in Rome appears to have engendered resentment among other artists in the pope's service, as it threatened their own access to patronage and the finite resources available for artistic commissions. In particular, Donato Bramante, who had been appointed shortly after the tomb contract was signed to oversee the ambitious reconstruction of the Constantinian basilica, is said to have persuaded Julius II to suspend work on the tomb, arguing that it was inauspicious to construct a sepulchral monument for a living person.As a result, when Michelangelo returned to Rome in the spring of 1506, he discovered that his project had been effectively set aside in favor of the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica and preparations for military campaigns against Perugia and Bologna. Unable to obtain a clarifying audience with the pope and unwilling to tolerate what he perceived as court intrigues, Michelangelo abruptly left Rome on 18 April 1506. He later wrote that, had he remained, "my own burial would be completed before that of the pope." Five papal messengers dispatched to recall him pursued him as far as Poggibonsi, but without success.
From Florence, where he had taken refuge, Michelangelo resisted repeated attempts at reconciliation until the pope issued three formal papal briefs to the Florentine Signoria and the gonfalonier Pier Soderini urged him to comply, stating that Florence could not risk conflict with the papacy on his account. Michelangelo eventually agreed to resume contact with Julius II during the latter's stay in Bologna, where the Bentivoglio family had recently been expelled. While there, he executed a bronze statue depicting the pope in a blessing pose. Returning to Rome a few years later, he received the commission to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a project that occupied him until 1512. Pope Julius II died on 21 February 1513 and was subsequently buried behind the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica, beneath the pavement.
Second project (1513)
Following the death of Pope Julius II, his will provided for the continuation of the tomb project. In consultation with the pope's heirs, however, the design was modified, and a new contract was signed in May 1513. The most significant change was the reconfiguration of the monument as a wall tomb, with the elimination of the internal mortuary chamber; these alterations were retained in all subsequent versions of the project. The decision to abandon the freestanding structure, which the heirs deemed excessively ambitious and costly, necessitated a more compact arrangement, with a greater concentration of sculptural elements on the visible surfaces. For instance, the four seated figures, which had previously been distributed across two faces of the monument, were now to be positioned near the two projecting corners of the principal front. The lower register maintained a comparable organization, but the central portal was omitted and replaced with a smooth band, thereby reinforcing the vertical progression of the composition. Lateral extensions remained substantial, as the catafalque was still planned perpendicular to the wall, supporting the recumbent figure of the pope held by two winged figures. Each side was to incorporate two niches replicating the arrangement of the front face. Above these, beneath a low segmental vault carried on pilasters, a Madonna and Child within an almond-shaped frame was to be accompanied by five additional figures.The contract included a provision, which was not strictly enforced, requiring Michelangelo to devote himself exclusively to the tomb and to complete it within a maximum of seven years.
Michelangelo began work on the revised project and produced several significant sculptures, including the two Prisoners now in the Louvre, the Dying Slave and the Rebellious Slave, as well as the Moses, which was subsequently incorporated into the final version of the monument. Although he did not adhere to the exclusivity clause, in order to maintain other sources of income such as the sculpture of the in 1514, these works represent the principal surviving output from this phase of the project.
Third project (1516)
In July 1516, a new contract was concluded for a third version of the monument, which entailed a further reduction in the number of statues. The lateral faces were shortened to the depth of a single niche, each containing a Victory flanked by two Prisoners positioned against pilasters and surmounted by busts, in a manner consistent with the arrangement of the principal front. This revision transformed the structure into what was effectively a monumental wall facade animated by sculptural elements. The previously planned smooth central band on the front, where an access portal had been located in earlier designs, was possibly replaced by a bronze relief. In the upper register, the catafalque was supplanted by a figure of the pope supported by two seated figures in a composition reminiscent of a Pietà, with a Madonna and Child positioned above in a niche.Work on the tomb was soon interrupted by a commission from Pope Leo X to execute the tombs in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, a project that was later continued under Pope Clement VII. According to the biography written by Ascanio Condivi, Michelangelo presented his departure from the tomb project as a reluctant necessity, undertaken only at the insistence of Pope Leo X, who is reported to have intervened with the Della Rovere heirs to secure permission for the suspension: "Leave it to me to deal with them, for I will make them content." Condivi records that Michelangelo left the tomb "weeping" and returned to Florence, thereby seeking to disclaim responsibility for the project's interruption. However, contemporary correspondence indicates that Michelangelo was not notably reluctant to accept the new commission, suggesting that the account provided in Condivi's biography represents a deliberate rhetorical emphasis intended to exonerate the artist from any implication of willingly abandoning the tomb.