Sistine Chapel ceiling Rome to continue sculpting. The tomb sculptures, however, were never to be finished because in 1508 the pope returned to Rome victorious and summoned Michelangelo to begin work on the ceiling. The contract was signed on 10 May 1508. The scheme proposed by the pope was for twelve large figures of the Apostles to occupy the pendentives. However, Michelangelo negotiated for a grander, much more complex scheme and was finally permitted, in his own words, "to do as I liked". His scheme for the ceiling eventually comprised some three hundred figures and took four years to execute, being completed and
Illusionistic ceiling painting Sant'Ignazio, Rome. Illusionistic ceiling painting belongs to the general class of illusionism in art—art designed to create accurate representations of reality. Di sotto in sù (or "sotto in su"), which means "seen from below" or "from below, upward" in Italian, developed in late Quattrocento Italian Renaissance painting, notably in Andrea Mantegna's Camera degli Sposi in Mantua and in frescoes by Melozzo da Forlì. Italian terminology for this technique reflects the latter artist's influence and is called "prospettiva melozziana", or "Melozzo's perspective". Another notable use is by Antonio da Correggio in the Duomo of Parma, which foreshadows Baroque grandeur. The technique