Giuliano Bugiardini moved to the studio of Fra Bartolomeo. He completed certain works left unfinished by Fra Bartolomeo when he died. Some years later in Rome, while at work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo sought Giuliano Bugiardini's services but later rejected them. Vasari mentioned Bugiardini assisted Michelangelo very briefly in 1508 with the painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He painted a "Martyrdom of St Catherine" for Santa Maria Novella in Florence, based on Michelangelo's sketches. He also painted in Bologna in 1526–1530. His earliest known works of between 1495 and 1500 show the influence of his
Sistine Chapel ceiling "Life of Moses" on the left side. It was carried out by some of the most renowned Renaissance painters: Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Signorelli and Cosimo Rosselli. The upper level of the walls contains the windows, between which are painted pairs of illusionistic niches with representations of the first thirty-two popes. A draft by Matteo d'Amelia indicates that the ceiling was painted blue like that of the Arena Chapel and decorated with gold stars, possibly representing the zodiacal constellations. It is probable that, because the chapel was the site of regular meetings and Masses of an elite body of officials