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Julius II commissions a new Vatican
Julius II connects the statue courtyard, Raphael’s rooms and Michelangelo’s ceiling.
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Buying an ancient group
After Laocoön was found in Rome in 1506, Julius bought it for the statue courtyard. Apollo joined the same collecting setting. Their ancient dates and their papal collection history belong to different periods. Julius brought them into a Renaissance arrangement of admired sculpture.
Choosing new rooms
Julius selected the apartment above the Borgia rooms and commissioned Raphael's decoration. The School of Athens and the Disputation belong to that project. Their philosophers and sacred figures filled rooms used within a papal residence.
Commissioning the ceiling
In May 1508, Julius commissioned Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling. The scheme expanded from apostles and ornament into the Genesis scenes and surrounding figures. The Pope's patronage therefore joins three different acts in your visit, collecting old statues, decorating an apartment and commissioning a chapel ceiling.
Photo gallery 1
Image credits
- Fabrizio Garrisi · Statua di Nettuno, tipo Laterano. Museo Gregoriano Profano -FG2.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Miguel Hermoso Cuesta · Museo Pio-Cristiano sarcófago. 01.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Miguel Hermoso Cuesta · Bernini cabeza para la Cathedra Petri. 02.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Livioandronico2013 · Apollo del Belvedere.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- xiquinhosilva · 11859 - Vatican - Pius-Clementine Museum (3482088081).jpg · CC BY 2.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Vincent van gogh, pietà, 1890 ca..JPG (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Deb Nystrom · Courtyard, Vatican Museum (45510285915).jpg · CC BY 2.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Fabrizio Garrisi · 015- Galleria degli arazzi, Musei Vaticani -FG.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Alvesgaspar · Galleria delle carte geografiche (Vatican Museums) September 2015-5.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Gracchus Tiberius · Hall of Constantine Raphael rooms Vatican Museums.jpg · CC BY 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- 0ro1 · 8 Estancia de Heliodoro (Vista general I).jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- sailko · Appartamento borgia, 02.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Poiesia · Gold cross with geometric decoration, 7th–8th century. Christian Museum, Vatican Museums.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Deb Nystrom · Courtyard, Vatican Museum (45510285915).jpg (detail) · CC BY 2.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Miguel Hermoso Cuesta · Museo Pio-Cristiano sarcófago. 01.JPG (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Miguel Hermoso Cuesta · Museo Pio-Cristiano sarcófago. 01.JPG (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Diliff · Vatican Museum Queue - April 2007.jpg (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Diliff · Vatican Museum Queue - April 2007.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Peter H. Feist · ROM - VATICAN - Giardino Quadrato - 89 - 063.24.jpg (detail) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Diego Delso · Museos Vaticanos, Ciudad del Vaticano, 2022-09-14, DD 50-52 HDR.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Joseolgon · Sarcophagus of Helena.jpg · CC BY 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Gold pectoral, Regolini-Galassi Tomb. Resized photograph. · CC BY 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Diego Delso · Ceiling of the Room of the Liberal Arts, Borgia Apartment. Resized and recompressed. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Disputation of Saint Catherine and ceiling decoration, Room of the Saints, Borgia Apartment. Resized and recompressed. · CC BY 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Resurrection with Alexander VI, Room of Mysteries, Borgia Apartment. Resized and recompressed. · CC BY 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Vincent van gogh, pietà, 1890 ca..JPG (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Sailko · Vincent van gogh, pietà, 1890 ca..JPG (detail) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF