The creation narrative of Genesis has never been so sublimely rendered. This is truly the pinnacle of the Renaissance. It's just amazing to be here. One really feels one's in the company of genius. As you see God giving life to Adam, you feel, too, how Michelangelo gave life to the Renaissance. Rome was reborn. Michelangelo projects his vision of the human body as an expression of God's design. While for Julius, this was the declaration of papal Rome as all-powerful and divinely blessed. But Julius wasn't prepared to stop here. Seven years earlier, Julius had set in motion an even more ambitious project right next door to the Vatican Palace. An endeavour so colossal, it would outlast Julius and the final days of the Renaissance itself. Inside the Church of San Martino ai Monti is an image of what was once the most sacred building in Rome, the original St Peter's Basilica, built by Constantine the Great.


圣经所讲述的创世纪（Genesis，旧约创世纪）从未获得过如此庄严的诠释。这（幅画）代表了文艺复兴的巅峰。能来这里真是太棒了。让人真正感受到天才就在自己的左右。看着上帝为亚当注入生命气息的同时，你也能领受到米开朗琪罗是如何为文艺复兴赋予活力的。罗马城获得了新生。米开朗琪罗就他自己对人的血肉之躯的解读，将之呈现为上帝的精巧构思。然而对朱利叶斯来说，作品是在宣告教皇统治的罗马拥有无上权威并且受到神的庇佑。但朱利叶斯并不打算止步于此。早在这七年前，朱利叶斯就在与梵蒂冈宫正相邻的地界上启动了一项更加浩荡的工程。这项直到文艺复兴运动消亡后才得以竣工的浩大工程朱利叶斯致死也未能窥其全貌。在圣马蒂诺爱蒙蒂教堂内有一幅描绘了罗马城曾经最为神圣的、由君士坦丁大帝主持建造的建筑——圣彼得大教堂的画像。