The Project that Drove Michelangelo Crazy

This is the incredible story of Michelangelo's 40-year struggle to build the Tomb for Pope Julius II. What was meant to be his crowning masterpiece became a project that haunted him for most of his life, a commission famously known by his biographer as "The Tragedy of the Tomb."

The tomb's story begins with an impossibly grand vision for a colossal monument with over 40 statues. This dream was ultimately derailed by political intrigue, artistic rivalries, and the unexpected commission to paint the Sistine Chapel. The masterpieces that emerged from the chaos include the powerful statue of Moses—with its famous terribilità and horns—and the beautiful, discarded Slaves now in the Louvre.

The story concludes in the heartbreaking compromises of the final monument in Rome's San Pietro in Vincoli, and the ultimate irony of where Pope Julius II is actually buried. It is the story of how, from the wreckage of a 40-year nightmare, Michelangelo forged a new vision for what sculpture could be