Sistine Chapel
By 1508 the artistic community such as Raphael felt so threatened by Michelangelo's sudden rise to fame that they devised a plot intended to discredit him. They would persuade Pope Julius II to have Michelangelo paint the ceiling of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. They were convinced that the young sculptor, who had never attempted a fresco before, would fail or, at the very least, become involved in a time consuming effort that would remove him from the competition for years. So, Pope Julius II requested that Michelangelo repaint the ceiling in 1508. Michelangelo at first refused, protesting that he was a sculptor, not a painter. However, Pope Julius insisted and finally prevailed. Michelangelo agreed and spent most of the next four years creating one of the world's artistic masterpieces. The pope wanted many biblical paintings and resulted with more than 3,000 figures. The ceiling is nearly 68 feet off the ground but Michelangelo carefully built a scaffold, trying to not to damage the ceiling. He painted the ceiling while lying on his back, and he did this for four years. The amazing part about this project is that Michelangelo had no assistance in creating the painting. He painted daily, mixed the colours, and worked on his own. On November 1, 1512, the ceiling was revealed to the world. Pope Julius II was pleased, and other assembled audience members were thrilled and awed. It was an astounding, intimidating, huge piece of work, done by one man lying on his back for four years. But a year after the ceiling was completed; Michelangelo had to have other people read to him because his vision had deteriorated so much. The experience also nearly permanently altered his eating habits and made him habitually tired.
David
Michelangelo sculpted David, a beautiful, detailed human-like sculpture. David was known for the most perfectly balanced body ever made. He was a huge sculpture of 5.17 meters (17 ft) high. He was started building the statue in 1501 and completed it in 1504. David is a marble sculpture that portrays the Biblical King David nude in the moment that he decides to battle with Goliath. David is a symbol of anger, strength, civil freedom and virtue. This statue is so specific that you can tell that David looks calm with a determined expression. Its height has made this statue of David one of the most admired works of art in the world