#julius ii

[pyogokunk]

Cesare borgia, Julius II, mini Machiavelli

[treasuresfromthearchives]

Bowl with the Arms of Pope Julius II and the Manzoli of Bologna surrounded by putti, cornucopiae, satyrs, dolphins, birds, etc.

workshop of Giovanni Maria Vasaro

1508

"This splendid bowl is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful pieces of majolica ever made. It is profusely decorated with the antique-inspired grotteschi that became popular in the early sixteenth century. The prominent oak tree beneath the papal keys and tiara, the festoons of acorns, and the shields inscribed "IV II" (for Julius II) associate this object with Pope Julius II della Rovere (r. 1503–12), whose heraldic device was the oak tree. At the lower edge the coat of arms of Melchiorre di Giorgio Manzoli, a Bolognese envoy and loyal supporter of the pope who was probably the bowl's recipient. The dense imagery, which includes emblems of both secular and spiritual authority, may commemorate the triumphal entry of the pope into Bologna in 1506 and the reestablishment of papal rule in the city.

The back of the bowl is fully glazed and decorated with a stylized acanthus-leaf pattern. An unusually detailed inscription in the center, "1508 adi 12 de seteb/facta fu i Castel durat/Zoua maria vro," establishes the object's precise date. This inscription is the only known reference to the otherwise undocumented Giovanni Maria Vasaro, who may have been the painter or, more likely, the owner of the workshop that produced the bowl."

[illustratus]

Coat of Arms of Pope Julius II

[thecrankyprofessor]

[cathedral-of-misery]

Raphael -  Portrait of Pope Julius II, 1511–12

[conformi]

Wolfgang Tillmans, Kate sitting, 1996 VS Raffaello Sanzio, Portrait of Pope Julius II, 1511-1512

[historymeetsliterature]

April 18, 1506

On April 18, 1506, pope Julius II laid the first stone of the new St. Peter's Basilica, replacing the older church. Constructions were completed in 1615, under pope Paul V.

Images:

1: "St. Peter's Basilica", by Viviano Codazzi, circa 1630.

2: Drawing of the old St. Peter's Basilica, by G. Grimaldi (15th century manuscripts)

3: Modern day view on the front facade

4: "Interior of Saint Peter's", by Giovanni Paulo Panini, middle eighteenth century.

[anghraine]

Shout-out to my man Erasmus for his take on Giuliano della Rovere/Pope Julius II, c. 1517:

But when nations and their rulers have been carrying on riotous raids and counter-raids for years on end, what happens then to the papal authority, once second only to that of Christ himself? It might be exercised even here, if the popes were not held in the grip of the same passions. Let the pope call for war, he is obeyed at once; when he calls for peace, why isn’t he obeyed the same way? If the princes were so eager for peace, why did they obey Julius in his belligerent outbursts yet pay hardly any attention to Leo when he spoke out for peace? If the pope’s authority is sacred, it ought to be particularly so whenever he urges the same things as Christ originally proposed. The princes who listened to Julius when he called for that awful war but then couldn’t hear Leo when he called for Christian concord were practically admitting that, while using the church as a smoke-screen, they were really serving their own appetites.