page_title: Art patronage of Julius II
section_title: Imagery of Julius II
hierarchical_section_title: Art patronage of Julius II / Imagery of Julius II
caption_attribution_description: Português: Na parede acima da porta principal de entrada da Capela Sistina o afresco do Profeta menor Zacarias, em cujo rosto foi pintado a face do Papa Júlio II, o mecena da pintura. Abaixo de Zacarias o brasão do mesmo papa com as armas da Casa Della Rovere. Autoria de Michelangelo.
context_page_description: Pope Julius II, commissioned a series of highly influential art and architecture projects in the Vatican. The painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo and of various rooms by Raphael in the Apostolic Palace are considered among the masterworks that mark the High Renaissance in Rome. His decision to rebuild St Peter's led to the construction of the present basilica.
  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.
context_section_description: During his reign, Julius II utilized his iconic status to his advantage, displaying his interest in the arts by placing himself on medals, emblems, and by commissioning specific artworks containing his image. Choosing to commission objects such as medals or coins is quite different from, having a portrait created. A medal or coin can be representative of an “antitype” or “modern counterpart” to typical, readable typologies that commonly appear in art. The “types” can serve as a code to decode antiquity, Renaissance or even Baroque art.
  The most noticeable self-referencing image trend on the coins and works of art commissioned by Julius II was the “Della Rovere oak." In Italian "rovere" means oak, derived from the Latin robur, meaning strength or oak tree.  The Spernadino medal of Giuliano Della Rovere (1488) is a prime example of a representation of the “Della Rovere oak". In addition, the giant oak in the Belvedere Courtyard was planted by Julius in 1504 to be incorporated into Bramante's design for the three-tiered area. The Della Rovere coat of arms bore an oak tree and the family was referenced with the emblem of the acorn, which had mythological, Christian, and Republican Roman iconographic associations.  
  In reality, however, Julius did not belong to the Della Rovere clan, which was established in Vinovo, near Turin.  His uncle Sixtus IV was from a family of merchants and Julius II's own father was a fisherman.  Sixtus IV had fabricated a lineage associated with the Della Rovere counts when he was a cardinal and saw an opportunity to ascend to the papal throne.
caption: On the wall above the main entrance door of the Sistine Chapel fresco of the Prophet Zechariah lower, with the face of Pope Julius II, le below the coat of the same pope. Michelangelo.
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