Art patronage of Julius II Art patronage of Julius II Pope Julius II (reigned 1503–1513), commissioned a series of highly influential art and architecture projects in Rome. The painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo and various rooms in the Vatican by Raphael are considered among the masterworks that mark the High Renaissance in Rome. His decision to rebuild St Peters led to the construction of the massive basilica we see now. Julius died in 1513, and except for the Sistine Chapel ceiling, which he lived to see finished, his very largest commissions were finished after his death. The term "High Renaissance" was first
The Crossing of the Red Sea (Sistine Chapel) The Crossing of the Red Sea (Sistine Chapel) The Crossing of the Red Sea is a fresco executed in 1481–1482 and located in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City. Of uncertain attribution, it has been assigned to one between Domenico Ghirlandaio, Biagio d'Antonio or Cosimo Rosselli. On 27 October 1480 several Florentine painters left for Rome, where they had been called as part of the reconciliation project between Lorenzo de' Medici, the "de facto" ruler of Florence, and Pope Sixtus IV. The Florentines started to work in the Sistine Chapel as early as the Spring of 1481, along with Pietro Perugino,