Then, during the realization of the work Julius II let himself be swayed by Michelangelo’s creative frenzy, so he was given carte blanche and by the end of October 1512 Michelangelo had painted over three hundred figures on the ceiling instead of twelve as originally planned. Michelangelo started in 1508, calling on assistance also his old friend Francesco Granacci, along with a number of assistants. However the work did not proceed as Michelangelo wished, soon he fired all of his assistants, removed what had already been painted and started on his own. He was extremely jealous of his work, he refused to show it to anyone except the pope and later he was insisting that he finish it quickly. On the ceiling he devised an intricate system of decoration including nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, beginning with God Separating Light from Darkness, Creation of Adam and Eve, the Temptation, Fall of Adam and Eve, and the Flood, surrounded by images of prophet and sibyls, other Old Testament subjects. It was extremely physically and emotionally torturous for him. “After four years, more than four hundred over-life-sized figures, I felt as old and weary as Jeremiah. I was only thirty-seven, yet friends did not recognize the old man I had become.”
Before starting works on Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo had been commissioned by Julius II to produce his tomb in St. Peter’s Basilica, planned to be the most magnificent of Christian times. He projected more than forty figures of Carrara marble. One of the finest sculptures, the central figure is Moses. The muscular patriarch sits holding the tablets of the Ten Commands, looking into the distance as if talking with God. Two other statues, the Bound Slave and the Dying Slave, show Michelangelo’s approach to carving, as imprisoned in the block. He left the statues unfinished, either he was already satisfied with them or he no longer planned to use them. The papal tomb was not the only Michelangelo’s architect activity. In fact, it really started in 1519 with the facade of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence. In 1520s he also designed the Lauretian Library. After the Medici family driven out of Florence in 1526 and proclaiming of the New Republic, Michelangelo was forced to stop all the projects he had been working on. In 1528 the new government asked him for a military project- defense of the city. He became a member of charging Nove della Milizia as an expert on fortifications. Soon Michelangelo decided to flee to Venice. The republic as a traitor exiled him but later he was allowed to reenter the city. With the return of the Medici he was granted the pardon and was able to resume work on the Medici Chapel and the Lauretian Library.