The culmination of Renaissance painting occurred in the 16th century. At the same time, the center of art and culture moved from Florence to Rome. Under Pope Sixtus IV and his successor, Julius II, the city of Rome was gloriously and richly decorated by Renaissance artists. Some of the most ambitious projects of this period were begun during the papacy of Julius II. Julius commissioned the great sculptor and painter Michelangelo (1475-1564) to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and carve a sculpture for the Pope’s tomb. Julius also invited the painter Raphael (1483-1520) to help decorate the Vatican. With assistants Raphael painted four rooms of the Pope’s apartments in the Vatican Palace.
Michelangelo, a Florentine by birth, developed a monumental style of painting. The figures in his painting are so strong and three-dimensional that they look like sculptures. The Sistine ceiling, which took Michelangelo four years to complete, consists of hundreds of human figures from the Old Testament. Michelangelo had to lie on his back on the scaffolding to execute this grandiose fresco. Jeremiah’s pensive face among the prophets that surround the ceiling is considered by some experts to be Michelangelo’s self-portrait.
Raphael came to Florence from Urbino while still a very young man. In Florence he absorbed the ideas of Leonardo and Michelangelo. By the time Raphael went to Rome to work at the Vatican, his style had become one of the greatest in beauty of execution. He was especially fond of his beautiful portraits of the Madonna and Child. They have been reproduced by the thousands and can be seen everywhere. His Madonna del Granduca is successful because of its simplicity. Timeless in its peacefulness and purity, it is as appealing to us as it was to Italians of Raphael’s era.