The Chigi Chapel or Chapel of the Madonna of Loreto ( Italian : Cappella Chigi or Cappella della Madonna di Loreto ) is the second chapel on the left-hand side of the nave in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome . It is the only religious building of Raphael which has been preserved in its near original form. The chapel is a treasure trove of Italian Renaissance and Baroque art and is ranked among the most important monuments in the basilica.
154-591: In 1507 Julius II granted assent to the acquisition of a chapel in the church to his friend, the wealthy Sienese banker and financier of the Roman Curia, Agostino Chigi . Chigi had bought the second chapel in the north aisle, and its dedication was changed by a papal bull on 3 December 1507 from Saints Sebastian, Roch and Sigismund to the Madonna of Loreto, whose shrine Agostino was passionately devoted, and Saints Augustine and Sebastian. The bull also stated that
308-513: A Madonna . Saint Anne , who just gave birth to her daughter, is resting on the bed in the middle of the gloomy room which opens towards a courtyard. In the strongly lit rectangle of the doorway her husband, Joachim is greeted by a man. At the far end of the rather monumental courtyard a classical statue is visible, probably representing the Tiburtine Sibyl who prophesied the birth of Christ to Augustus. The ornate gilded bronze frame of
462-532: A papal fief . The Venetians regained their territories lost to France, and the Papal States annexed Parma and Modena . The conciliarist movement promoted by foreign monarchs was crushed, and Julius II affirmed ultramontanism at the Fifth Lateran Council . This is often presented in traditional historiography as the moment in which Renaissance Italy came the closest to unification after
616-509: A bishop, if he were not already a bishop. This actually occurred in the case of Pius III (Francesco Todeschini-Piccolomini), who was ordained a priest on 30 September 1503 and consecrated a bishop on 1 October 1503 by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere. Around this time, in 1483, an illegitimate daughter was born, Felice della Rovere . On 3 November 1483, Cardinal della Rovere was named Bishop of Bologna and Papal Legate, succeeding Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga, who had died on 21 October. He held
770-873: A coherent composition. Julius II Pope Julius II ( Latin : Iulius II ; Italian : Giulio II ; born Giuliano della Rovere ; 5 December 1443 – 21 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope , the Battle Pope or the Fearsome Pope , it is often speculated that he had chosen his papal name not in honor of Pope Julius I but in emulation of Julius Caesar . One of
924-456: A coloured marble revetment, their slabs divided by white marble panels. The surfaces of the arches are decorated with Renaissance ornaments; on the intrados of the outer arch there is a meander , the archivolt of the inner arch is decorated with rich garlands of fruit and a mask, while the intrados of the inner arch has a central band of alternating rosettes and rectangles with grotesques, framed by two interlacement bands with six-pointed stars in
1078-499: A crusade and sought aid and money from all Christendom. The rulers of Europe paid little attention, but to show his sincerity Alexander imposed a tithe on all the residents of the Papal States and a tithe on the clergy of the entire world. A list of cardinals and their incomes, drawn up for the occasion, shows that Cardinal della Rovere was the second-richest cardinal, with an annual income of 20,000 ducats . Another break in relations between Pope Alexander and Cardinal Giuliano came at
1232-539: A famous antique marble relief called the "Borghese Dancers" that is now kept in the Louvre but originally it was in Rome, and was an important source of inspiration for the artistic circle around Raphael. The four prophets The statues of the prophets standing in identical shell-headed niches in the four corners of the chapel belong to two distinct groups. The first two (Jonah and Elijah) were created by Lorenzetto following
1386-482: A few days before Agostino. Agostino Chigi's widow, Francesca Ordeasca commissioned the mosaicist, Luigi da Pace on 31 May 1520 to create another set of mosaics for the planned decoration of the tambour and the spandrels, but she died in the same year on 11 November. The simultaneous death of the artist, the patron and the patron's widow stymied work on the chapel. Agostino's younger brother, Sigismondo Chigi commissioned Lorenzetto to go on with Raphael's plan in 1521. But
1540-553: A few unimportant places in the Romagna . With a campaign in 1506, he personally led an army to Perugia and Bologna , freeing the two papal cities from their despots, Gian Paolo Baglioni and Giovanni II Bentivoglio . In December 1503, Julius issued a dispensation allowing the future Henry VIII of England to marry Catherine of Aragon ; Catherine had previously been briefly married to Henry's older brother Prince Arthur , who had died, but Henry later argued that she had remained
1694-548: A formal investiture. Having previously declared that the imperial election was sufficient for Maximilian to style himself as Holy Roman Emperor , he later obtained Habsburg support against France as well. Julius II personally led the papal armed forces at the victorious Siege of Mirandola and, despite subsequent defeats and great losses at the Battle of Ravenna , he ultimately forced the French troops of Louis XII to retreat behind
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#17327733873871848-597: A luminous golden-yellow stone frame. The relief depicts the meeting of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well . The relevant part of the passage in the Gospel of John (John 4:10–26) is called the Water of Life Discourse, and Jesus' words make it clear why the imagery was appropriate on a tomb: ‘...those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them
2002-503: A mural depicting the Birth of the Virgin by Sebastiano del Piombo was begun in 1530 but it was left unfinished in 1534. Work on the chapel resumed in 1548 when Francesco Salviati was commissioned to create frescoes on the drum and the spandrels, although Raphael intended mosaics on these surfaces. He also completed the mural above the main altar. In 1552 Lorenzo Chigi paid his debt towards
2156-497: A papal fief, a Congress was held in Mantua by Julius II to declare the liberation of the peninsula. Nevertheless, although Julius had centralized and expanded the Papal States , he was far from realizing his dream of an independent Italian kingdom. Italy was not at peace either. The French were preparing new campaigns to reconquer Milan, and Julius II confessed to a Venetian ambassador a plan to invest his counselor Luigi d'Aragona with
2310-765: A rival abode from which to conquer heaven. Julius II became pope in the context of the Italian Wars , a period in which the major powers of Europe fought for primacy in the Italian Peninsula. Louis XII of France controlled the Duchy of Milan , previously held by the Sforzas , and French influence had replaced that of the Medici in the Republic of Florence . The Kingdom of Naples was under Aragonese rule, and
2464-636: A royal throne for his son fell through, and he was very angry. Louis offered Cesare another of his relatives, the "beautiful and rich" Charlotte d'Albret , whom Cesare married at Blois on 13 May 1499. The marriage produced a complete volta facie in Pope Alexander. He became an open partisan of the French and Venice, and accepted their goal, the destruction of the Sforza hold on Milan. On 14 July, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, della Rovere's sworn enemy, fled Rome with all his property and friends. Meanwhile,
2618-583: A series of complicated stratagems, he first succeeded in rendering it impossible for the Borgias to retain their power over the Papal States . Indeed, on the day of his election, he issued a damnatio memoriae , declaring: I will not live in the same rooms as the Borgias lived. He [Alexander VI] desecrated the Holy Church as none before. He usurped the papal power by the devil's aid, and I forbid under
2772-452: A small drawing of a female head, was acquired by the Louvre in 2004.) On 1 August 1530 Filippo Sergardi, who was guardian to the heirs of Agostino Chigi, signed a new contract with Sebastiano accepting the final version. In this document the artist was entrusted to paint the altar-piece and the other murals in the next three years for a compensation of 1500 plus 1300 gold ducats. The Birth of
2926-411: A small scene of a bird attacking a lizard which is nibbling the fruits (left eagle panel). There is a circular crypt under the chapel with an unornamented, empty pyramidal tomb set in the wall right under the altar which was discovered in 1974. At present this hypogeum is totally hidden from view but before Bernini's reconstruction there was an aperture in front of the altar creating a visual link between
3080-523: A spatial relationship that enlivened the entire chapel, turning its classical form to a new religious use. The statue of Daniel was placed in the niche to left of the entrance. On 26 June 1657 Bernini received 1000 scudi for the figure of Daniel which was then already in its place. The surviving preparatory drawings (four studies in the Museum der bildenden Künste in Leipzig ) prove that the inspiration for
3234-533: A spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ Lorenzetto chose to represent the second part of the episode. Jesus is sitting at the well under a tree, and the disciples are offering him food that they bought in the town nearby. On the left the Samaritan woman is guiding the inhabitants of Sychar towards the well to see the Messiah. The figures, the Samaritan woman and the second woman on the left were copied from
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#17327733873873388-576: A strong relation between Florence and Rome, a lasting legacy of Julius II. Yet Machiavelli and his methods would not outlast Julius' Papacy. Julius hired Swiss mercenaries to fight against the French in Milan in May 1512, causing the French army to withdraw across the Alps into Savoy. The papacy gained control of Parma and Piacenza in central Italy. With the French out of Italy and Spain recognizing Naples as
3542-477: A three year long litigation with the Augustinians. Although the debate was settled in 1629, due to Chigi's long absence from Rome as he pursued his ecclesiastical career, the chapel remained neglected in the next decades. More important changes were carried out by Gian Lorenzo Bernini between 1652 and 1655. The works began in earnest when Fabio Chigi became cardinal-priest of the basilica. Bernini finished
3696-422: A torch (with Taurus and Libra ). A French engraver, Nicolas Dorigny created a series of plates depicting the mosaics in 1695 for Louis, Duke of Burgundy . The mosaic panels are surrounded by richly gilded stucco decoration. The blue background creates an optical illusion giving the impression of an architectural framework opening to the sky above the chapel. The panels look like illusionistic skylights between
3850-636: A treaty. Innocent looked for new allies and settled on the Republic of Florence. On 2 March 1487, Giuliano was appointed legate in the March of Ancona and to the Republic of Venice. He encouraged trade with the sizable Turkish community at these ports. But urgent reports arrived from King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary that the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II was threatening Italy. He returned on 8 April 1488, and again took up his residence in
4004-406: A virgin for the five months of the marriage. Some twenty years later, when Henry was attempting to wed Anne Boleyn (since his son by Catherine of Aragon survived only a few days, and two of her sons were stillborn, and therefore he had no male heir), he sought to have his marriage annulled, claiming that the dispensation of Pope Julius should never have been issued. The retraction of the dispensation
4158-631: A war against the Ottoman Turks; and to negotiate the release of Cardinal Jean Balue and Bishop Guillaume d'Harancourt (who by then had been imprisoned by Louis for eleven years on charges of treason). He reached Paris in September, and finally, on 20 December 1480, Louis gave orders that Balue be handed over to the Archpriest of Loudun, who had been commissioned by the Legate to receive him in
4312-423: Is classical. Spring is represented as a young woman holding a bouquet of flowers with a floral wreath on her head; Summer is a woman holding ears of grain with a wreath of wheat on her head; Autumn is a young man under a grapevine with a cup; and Winter is an old man in a fur hat warming his hands by a brazier. A small ram by the shoulder of Spring is a symbol of Aries , the first sign of the zodiac and connected to
4466-518: Is decorated with four scrolls. This miniature round temple is topped with the symbols of the Chigi family, the mountains and the star with a cross. The exterior is practically invisible due to the location of the chapel behind the city wall, the Porta del Popolo and the main body of the basilica. Its simplicity and severe appearance was based on the reception of ancient Roman central-plan buildings for example
4620-593: Is made of a yellow giallo antico marble frame with dark red portasanta balusters. The railing was enlarged and the turgid balusters were added in the 17th century. This balustrade was copied by Giovanni Battista Contini in the Elci Chapel in Santa Sabina using a different colour scheme. The step leading into the chapel is a large monolith of Egyptian granite. All the other chapels in the basilica have simple white stone steps. Agostino Chigi paid 300 scudi for
4774-477: Is marked by mutability and corruptibility in contrast with the perfect and eternal world of heaven represented by the mosaics of the dome above. Sebastiano del Piombo: Birth of the Virgin John Shearman proposed that the main altar-piece was intended to be an Assumption of the Virgin but the theory remains heavily disputed. Soon after Raphael died, Sebastiano del Piombo was chosen to carry on
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4928-537: Is visible on the Arcus Argentariorum in Rome. The friezes are embellished with festoons of fruit and ribbons. The decoration was modelled after the relief panels in the entrance bay of the Pantheon that Raphael recorded on a smaller drawing but he omitted the tripods on the sides because the available space was smaller. Raphael also added new symbols above the festoons: ascending eagles (at the sides of
5082-817: The Apulian ports. This war was a conflict in what was collectively known as the " Italian Wars ". In the spring of 1509, the Republic of Venice was placed under an interdict by Julius, In May 1509 Julius sent troops to fight against the Venetians who had occupied parts of the Romagna, winning back the Papal States in the decisive Battle of Agnadello near Cremona. During the War of the Holy League, alliances kept changing: in 1510 Venice and France switched places, and by 1513, Venice had joined France. The achievements of
5236-457: The Borja family from Spain was a major political faction in the Papal States following the reign of Alexander VI . Archduke Maximilian I of Austria was hostile to France and Venice, and desired to descend into Italy in order to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the pope. The conclave capitulation preceding his election included several terms, such as the opening of an ecumenical council and
5390-506: The Colonna family supported the Pope in the street fighting that ensued. Ferrante reacted by seizing the fiefs of the barons, and, when the two parties met to negotiate a settlement, Ferrante had them arrested, and eventually executed. The prestige of the della Rovere family was seriously damaged, and in an attempt to exculpate himself Pope Innocent began to withdraw his support for them. Peace
5544-544: The Doge of Venice by remonstrance, he brought about a union of the conflicting interests of France and the Holy Roman Empire , and sacrificed temporarily to some extent the independence of Italy to conclude with them an offensive and defensive alliance against Venice. The combination was, however, at first little more than nominal, and was not immediately effective in compelling the Venetians to deliver up more than
5698-953: The Franciscans , who took him under his special charge. He was later sent by this same uncle (who by that time had become Minister General of the Franciscans (1464–1469)), to the Franciscan friary in Perugia , where he could study the sciences at the University. Della Rovere, as a young man, showed traits of being rough, coarse and inclined to bad language. During the late 1490s, he became more closely acquainted with Cardinal de’ Medici and his cousin Giulio de’ Medici , both of whom would later become Pope, (i.e. Leo X and Clement VII, respectively). The two dynasties became uneasy allies in
5852-813: The Louvre show God the Father creating the Sun and the Moon and separating Light from Darkness. Another drawing in the Royal Library in Windsor shows God with arms outstretched, a gesture associated with creation. The drawings were obviously inspired by Michelangelo . Around 1548-50 the Chigis commissioned Francesco de' Rossi (or Il Salviati) with the same task. Supposedly de' Rossi was recommended by his patron, Cardinal Giovanni Salviati (whose surname he adopted) because
6006-514: The Orsini and Colonna . Decrees were made in the interests of the Roman nobility, in whose shoes the new pope now stepped. Being thus secure in Rome and the surrounding country, he set himself the task to expel the Republic of Venice from Faenza , Rimini , and the other towns and fortresses of Italy which it occupied after the death of Pope Alexander. In 1504, finding it impossible to succeed with
6160-679: The Palazzo Colonna next to the Basilica of the XII Apostles . In the Conclave of 1492, following the death of Innocent VIII, Cardinal della Rovere was supported for election by both King Charles VIII of France and by Charles' enemy King Ferrante of Naples . It was reported that France had deposited 200,000 ducats into a bank account to promote della Rovere's candidature, while the Republic of Genoa had deposited 100,000 ducats to
6314-685: The Raphael Rooms and Michelangelo 's paintings in the Sistine Chapel . Pope Julius II allowed people seeking indulgences to donate money to the Church, which would be used for the construction of Saint Peter's Basilica. He was fiercely satirized after his death by Erasmus of Rotterdam in Julius Excluded from Heaven , in which the drunken pope, denied entry to heaven by St. Peter, justifies his worldly life and plots to create
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6468-550: The Temple of Minerva Medica . Interior Raphael's centralized plan was inspired by the designs of Bramante for the new St. Peter's Basilica . Another source of inspiration was the Pantheon with its dome, marble revetments and Corinthian pilasters. The simple cube is surmounted by a hemispherical dome resting on a high drum which is penetrated by a row of windows that allow light into the chapel. The trapezoidal pendentives were
6622-856: The Vatican Museums and initiated the rebuilding of the St. Peter's Basilica . The same year he organized the famous Swiss Guard for his personal protection and commanded a successful campaign in Romagna against local lords. The interests of Julius II lay also in the New World , as he ratified the Treaty of Tordesillas , establishing the first bishoprics in the Americas and beginning the Catholicization of Latin America. In 1508, he commissioned
6776-558: The status quo ante bellum in Italy by ratifying the treaties of Brussels and Noyon in 1516; France regained control of Milan after the victory of Francis I at the Battle of Marignano , and Spain was recognized as the ruler of Naples. Giuliano della Rovere was born in Albisola near Savona in the Republic of Genoa . He was of the House of della Rovere , a noble but impoverished family,
6930-455: The vernal equinox . The portrayal of Ver (Spring), Aestas (Summer) and Autumnus (Autumn) follows Ovid 's description of the seasons in his Metamorphoses (Met 2.27-30) while the allegory of winter was inspired by the "February-by-the-fire" motif of medieval calendar tradition. The former three personifications can also be interpreted as ancient Roman deities: Flora / Proserpina , Ceres and Bacchus . The tondi were damaged in different degrees,
7084-412: The Alps after the arrival of Swiss mercenaries from the Holy Roman Empire . At the Congress of Mantua in 1512, Julius II ordered the restoration of Italian families to power in the vacuum of French rule: the Imperial Swiss led by Massimiliano Sforza restored Sforza rule in Milan, and a Spanish army led by Giovanni de Medici restored Medici rule in Florence. The Kingdom of Naples was recognized as
7238-516: The Borgias by military force. The King entered Rome with his army on 31 December 1494, with Giuliano della Rovere riding on one side and Cardinal Ascanio Sforza riding on the other. The King made several demands of Pope Alexander, one of which was that the Castel Sant'Angelo be turned over to French forces. This Pope Alexander refused to do, claiming that Cardinal della Rovere would occupy it and become master of Rome. Charles soon conquered Naples , making his triumphal entry on 22 February 1495, but he
7392-479: The Cardinal was done not only without the consent of the cardinals in consistory, but in fact over their vigorous objections. By June, however, the Pope was in negotiations with the Cardinal for reconciliation and return to Rome. His benefices were restored to him after an apparent reconciliation with the Pope in August 1498. King Charles VIII of France, the last of the senior branch of the House of Valois , died on 7 April 1498 after accidentally striking his head on
7546-417: The Church and the King of Naples, Ferdinand I (Ferrante). On 28 June the Pope sent back to Naples the token gift of a palfrey which symbolized the King of Naples' submission and demanded the full feudal submission of the Kingdom of Naples to the Roman Church according to long-standing tradition . In a second attempt to overthrow the Aragonese monarchy, the Prince of Salerno Antonello II di Sanseverino, on
7700-399: The Conclave of October 1503, Julius had sworn to summon a general council, but it had been delayed, he affirmed, because of the occupation of Italy by his enemies. The real stimulus came from a false council which took place in 1511, later called the Conciliabulum Pisanum , inspired by Louis XII and Maximilian I as a tactic to weaken Julius, threatening to depose him. Julius' reply was
7854-407: The French army crossed the Alps and captured Alessandria in Piedmont. On 1 September 1499 Lodovico Il Moro fled Milan, and on 6 September the city surrendered to the French. Cardinal Giuliano was in the King's entourage when he entered Milan on 6 October. Pope Alexander then turned his attention, stimulated by the Venetians, to the threat of the Ottoman Turks. In the autumn of 1499, he called for
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#17327733873878008-457: The French to Mirandola . In November 1511, a council met at Pisa , called by rebel cardinals with support from the French king and the Empire; they demanded the deposition of Julius II. He refused to shave, showing utter contempt for the hated French occupation. "per vendicarsi et diceva ... anco fuora scazato el re Ludovico Franza d'Italia." Whereupon Julius entered into another Holy League of 1511 : in alliance with Ferdinand II of Aragon and
8162-399: The Genesis frescos are located in the Museo del Prado . Due to their location and bad visibility the Salviati frescos have always been somewhat overlooked but the copies sent for the Duke of Lerma prove that they were held in high esteem at the time. This fact is corroborated by the 1725 guide of Roma sacra e moderna . "The architectural circularity of the tambour is evidently suitable for
8316-427: The Kingdom of Naples in order to end Spanish presence in the south. In fact, after the death of Julius, war would resume and the treaties of Noyon and Brussels in 1516 would again divide much of Italy between French and Spanish influence. In May 1512 a general or ecumenical council, the Fifth Council of the Lateran , was held in Rome. According to an oath taken on his election to observe the Electoral Capitulations of
8470-517: The League soon outstripped the primary intention of Julius. In one single battle, the Battle of Agnadello on 14 May 1509, the dominion of Venice in Italy was practically lost to the pope. Neither the King of France nor the Holy Roman Emperor was satisfied with merely effecting the purposes of the Pope; the latter found it necessary to enter into an arrangement with the Venetians to defend himself from those who immediately before had been his allies. The Venetians, on making humble submission, were absolved at
8624-479: The Ottomans, who had occupied Bari in 1480; and the vigorous efforts of Ferrante to centralize the administrative apparatus of the kingdom, moving it away from a feudal to a bureaucratic system. The barons seized L'Aquila and appealed to the Pope for assistance as their feudal overlord. Genoa and Venice supported the Papacy, while Florence and Milan opted for Naples. In Rome, the Orsini family allied themselves with Ferrante's son Alfonso , and therefore their rivals
8778-402: The Papal States; it was in these endeavors he had enlisted French mercenaries. Urbino 's magnificent Ducal Palace was infiltrated by French soldiers in the pay of the Margrave of Mantua; the Montefeltro Conspiracy against his loyal cousins earned the occupying armies the Pope's undying hatred. Julius relied upon Guidobaldo's help to raise his nephew and heir Francesco Maria della Rovere ;
8932-444: The Pope's new principal advisor) decided to involve themselves in the political affairs of the Kingdom of Naples, in what was called the Conspiracy of the Barons . On Palm Sunday, 20 March, Cardinal della Rovere, concealing his activities from his principal rival, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI ), rode out of Rome and departed by sea from Ostia , intending to head for Genoa and Avignon to prepare to wage war between
9086-425: The Pope. Della Rovere at once determined to take refuge from Borgia's wrath at Ostia . On 23 April 1494, the Cardinal took ship, having placed his fortress at Ostia in the hands of his brother Giovanni della Rovere, and traveled to Genoa and then to Avignon. He was summoned by King Charles VIII to Lyons , where the two met on 1 June 1494. He made an agreement with Charles VIII, who undertook to take Italy back from
9240-433: The Pope. The kidnapping party returned to Rome on 12 July, without having accomplished its mission. On 20 July 1502, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Ferrari died in his rooms at the Vatican Palace; he had been poisoned, and his property was claimed by the Borgia. On 3 January 1503, Cardinal Orsini was arrested and sent to the Castel Sant'Angelo; on 22 February he died there, poisoned on the orders of Alexander VI. A veteran of
9394-502: The Sacred College, della Rovere had won influence for the election of Pope Pius III with the help of Florentine ruler, Lorenzo de' Medici . In spite of a violent temper della Rovere succeeded by dexterous diplomacy in winning the support of Cesare Borgia, whom he won over by his promise of money and continued papal backing for Borgia policies in the Romagna. This election was, in Ludwig von Pastor's view, certainly achieved by means of bribery with money, but also with promises. "Giuliano, whom
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#17327733873879548-402: The Venetians he conspired against the Gallican liberties. In a short time, both Henry VIII of England (1509–47), and Maximilian I joined the Holy League of 1511 against France. Ferdinand of Aragon now recognized Naples as a papal fief, invested in 1511, and therefore Julius II now regarded France as the main foreign power in the Italian peninsula hostile to Papal interests. Louis XII defeated
9702-402: The Virgin was eventually begun by Sebastiano del Piombo using an unusual technique, oil on peperino stone blocks. This was invented by him and greatly admired by his contemporaries. The mural was left unfinished by Sebastiano in 1534 and it was completed by Francesco Salviati by 1554. The upper part with the figure of the Holy Father and the angels is mainly Salviati's work. The iconography of
9856-485: The Virgin. The theological stance of sine culpa was also shared by the Augustinian friars of Santa Maria del Popolo. The idea that Mary, mother of Jesus can be stained by the original sin is abhorrent for God, the Father who averts this risk with his strong gesture even before Mary is conceived. The angels surrounding the Holy Father are angeli apteri , angels without wings, young men after the fashion of Michelangelo . They are intently browsing voluminous codices turning to
10010-439: The War of the Barons. He also warned King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain that Alexander was intriguing with the French, which brought an immediate visit of a Spanish ambassador to the Pope. In June Federico of Altamura was back in Rome and held conversations with della Rovere, assuring him of Neapolitan protection. On 24 July 1493, Cardinal della Rovere returned to Rome (despite the warnings of Virginio Orsini ) and dined with
10164-417: The Whale and Elijah . A surviving drawing from the workshop of Bernini proves that the architect at first planned to move the two Raphaelesque statues to the empty niches by the altar but soon he changed his mind. He created two new statues depicting the prophets Daniel and Habakkuk , and these sculptures formed a larger composition facing each other diagonally across the space of the chapel. Bernini created
10318-436: The advice of Antonello Petrucci and Francesco Coppola, gathered together several feudal families belonging to the Guelph faction and supporting the Angevin claim to Naples. Antonello de Sanseverino was the brother-in-law of Cardinal della Rovere's brother Giovanni, who was a noble of Naples because of his fief of Sora. The principal complaints of the barons were the heavy taxation imposed by Ferdinand to finance his war against
10472-507: The alliance at Battle of Ravenna on 11 April 1512. When a desperate battle felled over 20,000 men in a bloodbath the Pope commanded his protege, a newly released young Cardinal Medici to re-take Florence with a Spanish army. The rescue of the city on 1 September 1512 saved Rome from another invasion, ousting Piero Soderini , and returning the dynastic rule of the Medici. Julius had seemingly restored fortuna or control by exercising his manly vertu , just as Machiavelli wrote. This re-asserted
10626-418: The altar), a bearded male head wearing a hat in the form of the Chigi symbols with two fantastic beasts (right to the entrance), a siren attended by winged sealions (left to the entrance) and the Chigi symbol of the mountain and the eight-pointed star (under the entrance arch). There are playful details: flowers and berries at the end of the ribbons, birds pecking the fruits of the festoons (both eagle panels) and
10780-421: The ancient building and created a precise architectural drawing of the entrance which is now preserved in the Uffizi . The entablature and the cornice is decorated with egg-and-dart, bead-and-reel and flower-patterned enrichments. The pilasters are of polished white Carrara marble with faint grey veins while the capitals are of unpolished pure white Carrara marble. The surfaces between the pilasters are covered with
10934-419: The archdiocese until his later election to the papacy. In 1476 the office of Legate was added, and he left Rome for France in February. On 22 August 1476 he founded the Collegium de Ruvere in Avignon . He returned to Rome on 4 October 1476. In 1479, Cardinal Giuliano served his one-year term as Chamberlain of the College of Cardinals . In this office he was responsible for collecting all the revenues owed to
11088-729: The arrangements for his funeral. Daniel and the Lion (Bernini) Daniel and the Lion is a sculpture created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini c. 1655–57. Standing in a niche in the Chigi Chapel in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome , it shows the Prophet Daniel in the lions' den. It forms a part of a larger composition with the sculpture of Habakkuk and the Angel diagonally opposite. Gian Lorenzo Bernini began to work in
11242-501: The beginning of 1510, and shortly afterward France was placed under papal interdict. Attempts to cause a rupture between France and England proved unsuccessful; on the other hand, at a synod convened by Louis at Tours in September 1510, the French bishops withdrew from papal obedience and resolved, with the Emperor's co-operation, to seek dethronement of the pope. With some courage Julius marched his army to Bologna and then against
11396-453: The cardinal was linked to the Chigi family through the 1530 marriage of his relative, Giuliano with Camilla Chigi, the daughter of Agostino. The four tondi of the spandrels depict allegoric representations of the Seasons . In 1653 they were restored by Antonio della Cornia by order of Fabio Chigi. The murals were described as being seriously damaged in 1842. The iconography of the paintings
11550-475: The cardinals as a group (from ad limina visits, for example) and for the proper disbursements of appropriate shares to cardinals who were in service in the Roman Curia. Giuliano was again named Papal Legate to France on 28 April 1480, and left Rome on 9 June. As Legate, his mission was threefold: to make peace between King Louis XI and the Archduke Maximilian of Austria ; to raise funds for
11704-435: The chapel in 1652 for Fabio Chigi, the cardinal-priest of the basilica. His patron was elected pope under the name of Alexander VII in 1655 giving a fresh impetus for the reconstruction of the funerary chapel. At the time the two niches at the sides of the main altar were still empty while the other two on the left and right of the entrance were filled with the statues of Lorenzetto created after Raphael 's design: Jonah and
11858-430: The chapel is very simple: an oblong cube of exposed brick, surmounted by a cylindric tambour pierced with large rectangular windows. The cube is finished with a stone cornice while the tambour is decorated with a brick modillion trim. The low conical roof is covered with tiles but originally it was leaded. The dome is crowned by a small stone lanternino which has niches instead of windows between Tuscan pilasters and its base
12012-520: The chapel was meant to be a mausoleum for Agostino and his heirs, "wishing to trade earthly things to heavenly and transitory to eternal by fortunate exchange." The chapel was most probably rebuilt from scratch with Raphael as the architect. A ground plan attributed to the artist was preserved in the Uffizi in Florence, it was presumably drawn at the beginning of the work around 1512. An inscription on
12166-460: The characteristic elongation of the body which is typical of Bernini's so-called late style. The young prophet is kneeling, and his right foot is licked by the tame lion. Daniel is praying fervently, he reaches out to the right from the niche while his head turns up to God, the father depicted on the mosaic of the dome . The drapery is flowing in angular folds from the shoulders and across his loin. There are obvious thematic and visual parallels with
12320-447: The characteristics of Bramante but the whole conception of space, which requires the viewer to look at from several points of view to capture its splendor, is new and unique. The side walls are made up of round-headed arches, of which only the entrance arch is open, the others are blind; they are alternated with canted corners in which shell-headed niches are framed between Corinthian pilasters. The subtle use of coloured marbles emphasizes
12474-451: The company of Duke Federigo of Urbino , who promised his daughter in marriage to Giuliano's brother Giovanni, who was subsequently named Lord of Senigallia and of Mondovì . On 22 December 1475, Pope Sixtus IV created the new Archdiocese of Avignon, assigning to it as suffragan dioceses the Sees of Vaison, Cavaillon, and Carpentras. He appointed Giuliano as the first archbishop. Giuliano held
12628-517: The context of papal politics. Both houses desired an end to the occupation of Italian lands by the armies of France. He seemed less enthused by theology; rather, Paul Strathern argues, his imagined heroes were military leaders such as Frederic Colonna . After his uncle was elected Pope Sixtus IV on 10 August 1471, Giuliano was appointed Bishop of Carpentras in the Comtat Venaissin on 16 October 1471. In an act of overt nepotism he
12782-437: The crescent moon jewelled goddess holding a bow (with Cancer ); Saturn , the bearded god holding the scythe (with Aquarius and Capricorn ); Jupiter , the king of the gods with his eagle holding a thunderbolt (with Sagittarius and Pisces ); Mars , the god of war holding a sword and a shield (with Scorpio and Aries ); Sol , the sun jewelled god holding a bow (with Leo ); Venus , the goddess of love with Cupid holding
12936-416: The death of Innocent VIII in 1492 Borgia by means of a secret agreement and simony with Ascanio Sforza succeeded in being elected by a large majority, under the name of Pope Alexander VI." Della Rovere, jealous and angry, hated Borgia for being elected over him. On 31 August 1492 the new Pope, Alexander VI, held a consistory in which he named six cardinal legates, one of whom was Giuliano della Rovere, who
13090-460: The decoration of the tambour and the spandrels but these were never executed. In 1520 Francesca Ordeasca commissioned Luigi da Pace to carry out this task in no more than four years. In 1530 the executors of Agostino Chigi's will commissioned Sebastiano del Piombo to produce eight oil murals between the windows and four tondi on the spandrels. As Sebastiano was working leisurely on the large altar-piece, he made only preparatory drawings. Two studies in
13244-522: The design for the Chigi Chapel preceded the Santa Casa; at any rate the two project were related because the Chigi Chapel was dedicated to the Virgin of Loreto by Agostino Chigi. Dropped friezes appear on the two monumental tombs by Andrea Sansovino in the apse of the basilica which were also created in the first decade of the 16th century. The antique precedents are rare but the same arrangement
13398-405: The designs of Raphael. These were left in the workshop of the sculptor until the Chigis bought them from Lorenzetto's heirs, and they were put up in the chapel in 1552. The latter two (Daniel and Habakkuk) were added by Bernini during the 17th century reconstruction. There are differing theories on the arrangement of the niche figures in the original plans. Shearman assumed that the statue of Jonah
13552-613: The diocese until 1502. On 28 December 1484, Giuliano participated in the investiture of his brother Giovanni as Captain-General of the Papal Armies by Pope Innocent VIII . By 1484 Giuliano was living in the new palazzo which he had constructed next to the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles, which he had also restored. Pope Sixtus IV paid a formal visit to the newly restored building on 1 May 1482, and it may be that Giuliano
13706-462: The dome is a depiction of the "Realm of the Soul after Death" with God, the Father receiving the soul (of Agostino Chigi) in his new home. The presence of the signs of the zodiac corroborates this interpretation because the signs were symbols of the passage of time in eternity, and they appeared in antique funeral art around the image of the departed. Tambour and spandrels Raphael intended mosaics for
13860-499: The dome marked the completion of the mosaics in 1516. In the following years Lorenzetto worked on the architectural decoration of the chapel and the statues under Raphael's patronage. The main iconographic theme of the chapel was the Resurrection; and visually it represented a marriage between Christianity and classical antiquity. Agostino Chigi was buried in the half-finished chapel on 11 April 1520, and Raphael himself had died
14014-508: The drum of the Chigi Chapel. Salviati's cycle ends here, and the three scenes from the story of Noah , that make up the last section of Michelangelo's great sequence, are missing. Around 1602 Vincenzo I Gonzaga , the Duke of Mantua commissioned Pietro Facchetti to make copies of the Genesis frescos and the cosmological mosaics of the dome. The oil paintings were gifts to the Duke of Lerma ,
14168-459: The end of 1501 or the beginning of 1502 when Giuliano was transferred from the Bishopric of Bologna to the diocese of Vercelli. On 21 June 1502, Pope Alexander sent his secretary, Francesco Troche (Trochia), and Cardinal Amanieu d'Albret (brother-in-law of Cesare Borgia) to Savona to seize Cardinal della Rovere by stealth and bring him back to Rome as quickly as possible and turn him over to
14322-538: The end of the Italic League of the 15th century. However, Julius II was far away from the possibility to form a single Italian kingdom, if that was his goal at all, since foreign armies were largely involved in his wars and the French were preparing new campaigns against the Swiss for Milan. Naples, even if recognized as a papal fief, was still under Aragon and in fact Julius II was planning to end Spanish presence in
14476-416: The entire motion of the universe below. Eight mosaic panels show the Sun, the Moon, the starry sky and the six known planets as pagan deities depicted in half-length, each accompanied by an angel with colourful feathered wings. The figures are accompanied by the signs of the zodiac. The sequence of the panels is as follows: the sky; Mercury , the god holding the caduceus (with Virgo and Gemini ); Luna ,
14630-510: The favourite of the French monarchy . In the end, as in all papal elections, the vote is made unanimous after the leading candidate has achieved the required number of votes for election. Giuliano Della Rovere took the name Julius, only used by a single fourth-century predecessor, Julius I , and was pope for nine years, from 1503 to 1513. From the beginning, Julius II set out to defeat the various powers that challenged his temporal authority; in
14784-531: The first man.) Salviati "postponed" this scene in order to place the Creation of Adam and the Creation of Eve on both sides of the entrance to the chapel and to have them face directly the Nativity of the Virgin on the altar because this arrangement was more meaningful theologically. A subtle reference that the scene belongs to the first group could be seen in the treatment of God's clothing (red and blue mantle in
14938-509: The first scenes but a different bluish-white robe in the Creation of Adam and Eve). Looking at the whole cycle the scenes are gradually getting darker as the narrative progresses, except the oddly positioned Creation of the Animals which belongs to the first group of paintings regarding its treatment of light. According to Métral the frescos of the tambour represent the creation of the terrestrial and visible world, subject to time (tempus), which
15092-704: The formal adhesion of Emperor Maximilian to the Lateran Council and his repudiation of the Conciliabulum Pisanum . This was one of Julius' great triumphs. The Pope was again in attendance at the fourth session on 10 December, this time to hear the accrediting of the Venetian Ambassador as the Serene Republic's representative at the council; he then had the letter of King Louis XI (of 27 November 1461), in which he announced
15246-571: The gilt stucco ribs while God is standing on the edge of the central oculus. The traditional interpretation of the dome is that the composition shows the Creation of the World . Another interpretation, proposed by John Shearman, claims that it represents the cosmos as described by Plato in a Christianized Neoplatonist form. This idea had a widespread popularity in the Renaissance. In this case
15400-552: The goal of capturing the coast of Romagna from the Venetian Republic . Having achieved this goal, he formed an anti-French "Holy League" with Venice following the defeat of the latter at the Battle of Agnadello . His main goal was now again to "expel the barbarians" ( Fuori i Barbari! ). Julius II brought the Catholic Ferdinand II of Aragon into the alliance, declaring Naples a papal fief and promising
15554-411: The heirs of Lorenzetto, and the two statues were finally placed in the chapel. After this the chapel was unveiled for the first time in 1554. After Lorenzo Chigi's death and his burial in the chapel in 1573 the family disappeared from Rome, and their chapel became abandoned. In 1624 the funeral monument of Cardinal Antoniotto Pallavicini was moved into the chapel from the crossing and placed in front of
15708-478: The impression of a man who is guided rather by the advice of others than by his own lights." The ambassador of Ferrara stated, "While with his uncle [Della Rovere] had not the slightest influence, he now obtains whatever he likes from the new Pope." Della Rovere was one of the five cardinals named to the committee to make the arrangements for the Coronation. In 1485 Pope Innocent and Cardinal della Rovere (as
15862-429: The individual elements of the classical architecture. The portal of the chapel is a Renaissance reinterpretation of the entrance bay of the Pantheon . It has a monumental effect with double transverse arches resting on huge Corinthian pilasters. The marble pilasters have cable-fluted shafts and beautifully carved, vivacious capitals which were practically copied from the much admired classical model. Raphael had studied
16016-705: The intricate web of nepotism helped secure the Italian Papacy. Moreover, the Pope's interest in Urbino was widely known in the French court. Julius left a spy at the Urbino Palace, possibly Galeotto Franciotti della Rovere , Cardinal of San Pietro, to watch the Mantua stables in total secret; the secular progress of the Papal Curia was growing in authority and significance. In Rome, the Pope watched from his private chapel to see how his court behaved. This
16170-427: The issuing of the bull Non-sini gravi of 18 July 1511, which fixed the date of 19 April 1512 for the opening of his own council. The Council actually convened on 3 May 1512, and Paris de Grassis reports that the crowd at the basilica was estimated at 50,000. It held its first working session on 10 May. In the third plenary session, on 3 December 1512, Julius attended, though ill; but he wanted to witness and receive
16324-569: The large block of stone. The central panels of the wooden doors are decorated with a dense foliage of carved acanthus leaves. The friezes in the chapel are "dropped" in an odd position between the capitals. This was an uncommon device and Raphael gave it an entirely new significance with the exuberance and plasticity of the carvings. There are similar dropped friezes on the Santa Casa in Loreto designed by Bramante in 1509. Shearman supposed that
16478-462: The left wall by the friars. Sigismondo Chigi's great-grandson, Fabio made his first visit to the neglected chapel in 1626. He found it in a state of serious disrepair and complained about the presence of the Pallavicini monument in a letter to his uncle. Later he managed to transfer this tomb to the nearby baptistery but it was still in the chapel in 1629. Fabio Chigi regained the ownership after
16632-645: The lintel of a door at the Château d'Amboise . When Cesare Borgia passed through southern France in October 1498 on his way to meet King Louis XII for his investiture as Duke of Valentinois , he stopped in Avignon and was magnificently entertained by Cardinal della Rovere. They then moved on to meet the King at Chinon , where Cesare Borgia fulfilled one of the terms of the treaty between Louis and Alexander by producing
16786-481: The middle. The stucco Chigi coat-of-arms (quartered with the oak and the six mountain with the star) above the portal was added by Bernini in 1652. The inscription "Unum ex septem" on the cartouche hanging from the coat-of-arms indicates that this is one of the privileged altars which are devotionally equivalent to visiting the Seven Churches of Rome. The entrance of the chapel is marked by a marble railing. It
16940-670: The morning of 24 June Paris found the Pope to be very weak. On Christmas Eve, Julius ordered Paris to summon the College of Cardinals and the Sacristan of the Apostolic Palace, since he was so ill that he did not expect to be able to stay alive very long. From then until 6 January he was confined to bed, and most of the time with a fever; he had lost his appetite, but the doctors were unable to diagnose his languor. On 4 February he had an extensive conversation with Paris concerning
17094-568: The most influential man in the court of Philip III of Spain , and they were brought to Valladolid in 1603 together with other copies of famous Italian artworks by Peter Paul Rubens , a young Flemish painter working for Duke Vincenzo at the time. The zodiac paintings later went to decorate the Planetary Hall of Philip IV of Spain in the Buen Retiro Palace . At present seven of the zodiac paintings and five surviving copies of
17248-512: The most powerful and influential popes, Julius II was a central figure of the High Renaissance and left a significant cultural and political legacy. As a result of his policies during the Italian Wars , the Papal States increased their power and centralization, and the office of the papacy continued to be crucial, diplomatically and politically, during the entirety of the 16th century in Italy and Europe. In 1506, Julius II established
17402-563: The most seriously the allegory of Autumn. During a recent restoration the 17th-century bronze frames were removed. The frescos between the windows of the drum (c. 1552-1554) depict scenes from the Book of Genesis in order: Separation of Light from Darkness , Creation of the Sun and the Moon , Creation of the Earth , Creation of Adam , Creation of Eve , Creation of the Animals , The Original Sin and Expulsion from Paradise . The paintings show
17556-467: The name of the Pope. He returned to Rome on 3 February 1482. Shortly thereafter the sum of 300,000 ecus of gold was received from the French in a subsidy of the war. On 31 January 1483 Cardinal della Rovere was promoted suburbicarian Bishop of Ostia , in succession to Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville who had died on 22 January. It was the privilege of the Bishop of Ostia to consecrate an elected pope
17710-466: The narration of the story about the creation of the world in six days. The scenes require the viewer to move his gaze along the wall of the drum, and it is only at the end of this visual journey that he has reconstructed the story in its entirety", claims Florian Métral. The windows also play their part in the overall effect because the sunlight breaks through each of the bays in turn, illuminating certain scenes and making others indiscernible, thus modulating
17864-683: The organization of a crusade against the Ottoman Turks . Once crowned, Julius II proclaimed instead his goal to centralize the Papal States (in large part a patchwork of communes and signorie ) and "free Italy from the barbarians". In his early years as pope, Julius II removed the Borjas from power and exiled them to Spain. Cesare Borgia , Duke of Romagna, shared the same fate and lost his possessions. He joined an anti-Venetian league formed in Cambrai between France , Spain, and Austria , with
18018-420: The pain of excommunication anyone to speak or think of Borgia again. His name and memory must be forgotten. It must be crossed out of every document and memorial. His reign must be obliterated. All paintings made of the Borgias or for them must be covered over with black crepe. All the tombs of the Borgias must be opened and their bodies sent back to where they belong – to Spain. Others indicate that his decision
18172-481: The painting is rather unusual. According to Costanza Barbieri the presence of God in the upper part combines the traditional subject of the nativity with the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception which was still not generally accepted but it was heavily promoted by Pope Sixtus IV , and by Agostini Chigi, who requested in his will the celebration of a solemn mass in his chapel on the day of the birth of
18326-578: The painting with acanthus leaves and acorns was made by Francuccio Francucci in 1655. Similar frames surround the lunette panels of Raffaello Vanni above the tombs. Christ and the Samaritan Woman The bronze bas-relief panel on the altar front is Christ and the Samaritan Woman , by Lorenzetto . The relief was made in the early 1520s and bought by Lorenzo Chigi from the heirs of the sculptor in 1552. According to Antonio Pinelli it
18480-501: The patrons. Two of them survived: an earlier preparatory study in the Kupferstichkabinett Berlin and a finely executed, definitive modello drawing in the Louvre . The main difference is that the group in the upper part of the painting (God and angels) is missing on the earlier Berlin drawing. The composition of the modello, which is identical to the executed mural, became more mature and harmonious. (Another study,
18634-524: The pope was, and who in that capacity governed the universal Roman Church." Julius, who modeled himself after his namesake Caesar, would personally lead his army across the Italian peninsula under the imperial war-cry, "Drive out the barbarians." Yet, despite the imperial rhetoric, the campaigns were highly localized. Perugia voluntarily surrendered in March 1507 to direct control, as it had always been within
18788-474: The pope. As part of the Renaissance program of reestablishing the glory of antiquity for the Christian capital, Rome, Julius II took considerable effort to present himself as a sort of emperor-pope, capable of leading a Latin-Christian empire. On Palm Sunday, 1507, "Julius II entered Rome ... both as a second Julius Caesar , heir to the majesty of Rome's imperial glory, and in the likeness of Christ, whose vicar
18942-424: The popular voice seemed to indicate as the only possible pope, was as unscrupulous as any of his colleagues in the means which he employed. Where promises and persuasions were unavailing, he did not hesitate to have recourse to bribery." Indeed, his election on 1 November 1503 took only a few hours, and the only two votes he did not receive were his own and the one of Georges d'Amboise , his most vigorous opponent and
19096-501: The pulpit a papal bull, Si summus rerum , dated that very day and containing within its text the complete bull of 14 January 1505, Cum tam divino . The bull was submitted to the Council fathers for their consideration and ratification. Julius wanted to remind everyone of his legislation on papal conclaves, in particular against simony , and to fix his regulations firmly in canon law so that they could not be dispensed or ignored. Julius
19250-450: The pyramids, laid the present floor, raised the altar, slightly enlarged the windows, renewed the lead roof, regilded and cleaned the dome. Painted wood panels by Raffaello Vanni were placed in the lunettes above the tombs. In 1656 and in 1661 Bernini filled the remaining niches with two new statues, depicting Daniel and the Lion and Habakuk and the Angel . Another restoration campaign was launched in 1682-88. Exterior The exterior of
19404-524: The red hat of a cardinal, which had been promised for the Archbishop of Rouen , Georges d'Amboise . It was Cardinal della Rovere, the Papal Legate, who placed the hat on Amboise's head. Louis wanted an annulment from Queen Joan so he could marry Anne of Brittany , in the hope of annexing the Duchy of Brittany ; Alexander, in turn, wanted a French princess as wife for Cesare. Della Rovere, who
19558-627: The revocation of the Pragmatic Sanction, read out to the assembly, and demanded that all persons who accepted the Pragmatic Sanction appear before the Council within sixty days to justify their conduct. This was directed against the current French King Louis XII. The fifth session was held on 16 February, but Pope Julius was too ill to attend. Cardinal Raffaele Riario , the Dean of the College of Cardinals and Bishop of Ostia, presided. The Bishop of Como , Scaramuccia Trivulzio , then read from
19712-535: The right and the left, an appropriate visualization of the sapiential books; the same motif appears on a modello drawing by Sebastiano for an altar-piece depicting the Assumption in the Rijksmuseum . In the lower part of the painting the newborn baby is prepared for her first bath by seven female servants. The woman holding the baby in the middle bears some deceptive - and probably intentional - resemblance to
19866-475: The same end. Della Rovere, however, had enemies, both because of the influence he had exercised over Pope Sixtus IV and because of his French sympathies. His rivals included Cardinal Ardicio della Porta and Cardinal Ascanio Sforza , both patronized by the Milanese. Kellogg, Baynes & Smith, continue, a "rivalry had, however, gradually grown up between [della Rovere] and [then-Cardinal] Rodrigo Borgia , and on
20020-514: The son of Raffaello della Rovere and Theodora Manerola, a woman of Greek ancestry. He had three brothers: Bartolomeo, a Franciscan friar who then became Bishop of Ferrara (1474–1494); Leonardo; and Giovanni , Prefect of the City of Rome (1475–1501) and Prince of Sora and Senigallia. He also had a sister, Lucina (later the mother of Cardinal Sisto Gara della Rovere ). Giuliano was educated by his uncle, Fr. Francesco della Rovere, O.F.M. , among
20174-652: The south. Nevertheless, by the end of his pontificate, the papal objective to make the Church the main force in the Italian Wars was achieved. At the Roman Carnival of 1513, Julius II presented himself as the "liberator of Italy". Julius planned to call for a crusade against the Ottoman Empire in order to retake Constantinople , but died before making official announcements. His successor, Pope Leo X, along with Emperor Maximilian, would re-establish
20328-467: The statue of Jonah by Lorenzetto in the chapel. Both stories symbolize the escape from death by the grace of God, and death threatens both prophets in the form of a dangerous beast, in the case of Jonah, the whale and in the case of Daniel, the lion. The prophets are youthful, athletic heroes, more like ancient gods than the typical bearded men of the Old Testament . The head of Jonah was inspired by
20482-508: The statue was provided by the famous Laocoön group . The drawings show the creative process through which the classical models were studied and reinvented by the Baroque artist. A preparatory terracotta model for the statue also survived in the Vatican Museums . Formerly thought to be the work of an assistant, after its cleaning in the 1980s it has been mainly attributed to Bernini himself, and even bears his fingerprints. The sculpture shows
20636-556: The strong influence of the sculptural style of Michelangelo's famous Genesis-cycle on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel . The scenes are not in strictly chronological order. The first five are the same as the parallel Genesis paintings in the Sistine Chapel but the sixth fresco adds a new subject, the creation of the fishes, birds and wild animals. The sixth scene of the Sistine ceiling is separated into two individual paintings on
20790-607: The two levels. Dome The dome is decorated with mosaics executed by the Venetian Luigi da Pace after Raphael's cartoon (1516). The original cartoons were lost but some preparatory drawings, that confirm the originality of the work, survived in the Ashmolean Museum , Oxford and Lille . The central roundel represents God, the Father, surrounded by putti, effectively foreshortened in an impetuous gesture, harking back to Michelangelo , which seems to give rise to
20944-458: The viewer's visual experience over time. The scene of the Creation of the Animals poses an interesting problem due to its placement after the creation of Adam and Eve which is not consistent with the Biblical narrative and has no iconographic precedent. (The aquatic and flying animals were created by God on the fifth day while the terrestrial species had been created on the sixth day but before
21098-515: The work advanced slowly and the death of Sigismondo in 1526 left everything in limbo. Vasari records in his Lives , speaking about the statues of Jonah and Elijah : "... the heirs of Agostino, with scant respect, allowed these figures to remain in Lorenzetto's workshop where they stood for many years. [...] Lorenzo, robbed for those reasons of all hope, found for the present that he had thrown away his time and labor." The main altar-piece,
21252-509: The work on the altar-piece but he achieved less than expected. Vasari gives a scathing account in his Lives : "He did little work there, although we find that he obtained from the liberality of Agostino and his heirs much more than would have been due to him even if he had finished it completely, which he did not do, either because he was weary of the labors of art, or because he was too much wrapped up in comforts and pleasures." During this decade Sebastiano may have produced several drafts to
21406-547: Was already in residence then. Sixtus IV died on 12 August 1484 and was succeeded by Innocent VIII . After the ceremonies of the election of Pope Innocent were completed, the cardinals were dismissed to their own homes, but Cardinal della Rovere accompanied the new Pope to the Vatican Palace and was the only one to remain with him. Ludwig Pastor quotes the Florentine ambassador as remarking, "[Pope Innocent] gives
21560-507: Was an age of Renaissance conspiracy. In addition to an active military policy, the new pope personally led troops into battle on at least two occasions, the first to expel Giovanni Bentivoglio from Bologna (17 August 1506 – 23 March 1507), which was achieved successfully with the assistance of the Duchy of Urbino. The second was an attempt to recover the Duchy of Ferrara for the Papal States (1 September 1510 – 29 June 1512). In 1508, Julius
21714-599: Was appointed Legate in Avignon. Cardinal Giuliano was increasingly alarmed by the powerful position assumed by Cardinal Ascanio Sforza and the Milanese faction in the Court of Alexander VI, and after Christmas Day in December 1492 chose to withdraw to his fortress in the town and diocese of Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber River. In that same month, Federico of Altamura, the second son of King Ferdinando (Ferrante) of Naples
21868-521: Was forced to remove most of his army. As he was returning to the north, his army was defeated at the Battle of Fornovo on 5 July 1495, and his Italian adventure came to an end. The last remnants of the French invasion were gone by November 1496. Ostia, however, remained in French hands until March 1497, causing difficulties in the provisioning of the city of Rome. Back in Lyon in 1496, Charles VIII and Giuliano della Rovere were planning another war. Giuliano
22022-516: Was fortuitously able to form the League of Cambrai with King Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (proclaimed without coronation as emperor by Pope Julius II at Trent in 1508) and King Ferdinand II of Aragon . The League fought against the Republic of Venice . Among other things, Julius wanted possession of Venetian Romagna ; Emperor Maximilian I wanted Friuli and Veneto ; Louis XII wanted Cremona , and Ferdinand II desired
22176-478: Was fully aware that his death was imminent, and wished to establish a major reform in his final days. Though he had been a witness to a good deal of simony at papal conclaves and had been a practitioner himself, he was determined to stamp out this abuse. The reading of the bull Cum tam divino became a regular feature of the first day of every conclave. On the Vigil of Pentecost in May 1512, Pope Julius, aware that he
22330-582: Was immediately raised to the cardinalate on 16 December 1471, and assigned the same titular church as that formerly held by his uncle, San Pietro in Vincoli . Guilty of serial simony and pluralism , he held several powerful offices at once: in addition to the archbishopric of Avignon he held no fewer than eight bishoprics, including Lausanne from 1472, and Coutances (1476–1477). In 1474, Giuliano led an army to Todi , Spoleto , and Città di Castello as papal legate. He returned to Rome in May in
22484-419: Was in Rome to pay homage to the new pope, and he reported back to his father that Alexander and Cardinal Sforza were working on establishing new alliances, which would upset Ferrante's security arrangements. Ferrante, therefore, decided to use della Rovere as the center of an anti-Sforza party at the papal court, a prospect made easier since Ferrante had prudently repaired his relations with Cardinal Giuliano after
22638-409: Was originally planned for the tomb of Francesca Ordeasca, the wife of Agostino Chigi. If true, then this offers an explanation for the unusual thematic choice that suits well to a female tomb but seems somewhat incongruous on the sepulchre of a man. Anyway it was placed on the only existing pyramid at the time, the tomb of Agostino Chigi, and later it was moved to the main altar by Bernini who set it into
22792-444: Was planned for the niche to the right of the altar because this place offered the best angle to view the composition. He thought that the statue of Elijah was most likely intended for one of the two niches by the entrance. After 1552 the two statues were supposedly placed on the two sides of the entrance. The present arrangement was created by Bernini who placed the statues of Habakkuk and Daniel diagonally facing each other creating
22946-483: Was refused by Pope Clement VII . The Bull entitled Ea quae pro bono pacis , issued on 24 January 1506, confirmed papal approval of the mare clausum policy being pursued by Spain and Portugal amid their explorations , and approved the changes of the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas to previous papal bulls. In the same year, Julius II founded the Swiss Guard to provide a constant corps of soldiers to protect
23100-406: Was restored in 1487, but Innocent VIII's papacy was discredited. On 23 March 1486, the pope sent Giuliano as Papal Legate to the Court of King Charles VIII of France to ask for help. A French entourage arrived in Rome on 31 May, but immediately relations broke down with the pro-Spanish Cardinal Borgia. But Ferrante's army decided the pope's humiliation, Innocent backed down and on 10 August signed
23254-450: Was seriously ill and that his health was failing, despite comments on the part of some cardinals about how well he looked, remarked to Paris de Grassis , "They are flattering me; I know better; my strength diminishes from day to day and I cannot live much longer. Therefore I beg you not to expect me at Vespers or at Mass from henceforth." Nonetheless, he continued his restless activities, including Masses, visits to churches, and audiences. On
23408-482: Was taken on 26 November 1507, not in 1503. The Borgia Apartments were turned to other uses. The Sala de Papi was redecorated by two pupils of Raphael by order of Pope Leo X . The rooms were used to accommodate Emperor Charles V on his visit to the Vatican after the Sack of Rome (1527) , and subsequently, they became the residence of the Cardinal-nephew and then the Cardinal Secretary of State . Julius used his influence to reconcile two powerful Roman families,
23562-418: Was traveling back and forth from Lyon to Avignon, raising troops. It was being reported in France by June 1496, moreover, that King Charles intended to have a papal election in France and to have Cardinal della Rovere elected pope. In March 1497 Pope Alexander deprived Cardinal della Rovere of his benefices as an enemy of the Apostolic See, and Giovanni della Rovere of the Prefecture of Rome. His action against
23716-441: Was trying to repair his relations with the House of Borgia, was also involved in another clause of the treaty, the marriage between Cesare Borgia and Carlotta , the daughter of the King of Naples, who had been brought up at the French Court. Della Rovere was in favor of the marriage, but, according to Pope Alexander, King Louis XII was not, and, most especially, Carlotta was stubbornly refusing her consent. Alexander's plan of securing
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