This was a nightmare for Michelangelo.. Here’s why ⤵️
When Julius II become pope, he asked Michelangelo to make his pyramidal mausoleum on top of St Peter’s tomb, in St Peter’s basilica.
Michelangelo set on a journey to Carrara, to personally choose the right blocks of marble..
In the meantime Julius II changed his mind. He wanted Michelangelo to work at the Sistine chapel. And by the way, his tomb should go against a wall, and not a pyramid anymore..
The Pope was much more focused on the constructions works of the new basilica of St Peter, and the ambitious plans he had for this tomb, were no longer a priority.
At some point Julius II died, Michelangelo moved to Florence, and the making of the tomb was interrupted, even though Michelangelo already sculpted some of the statues. One of them was the Moses.
Some years later, the heirs of Julius II complained to Michelangelo that the job was never delivered. In the meantime there was no longer space in St Peter’s basilica to host this tomb, as originally planned.
And so, with the mediation of the Pope of the time, Paul III, Michelangelo completed the monument. But in a different location, this church: San Pietro in Vincoli.
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