Michelangelo was a liberal patron of the arts, commissioning Bramante to build St Peter's Church, Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, and Raphael to decorate the Vatican apartments.

Sybille de Cummes

(ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City )

Sibyls were female seers of ancient Greece and Rome. They were also known as oracles. Like the Jewish prophets of the Old Testament, many sibyls had their sayings recorded in books. Jewish prophets spoke unbidden, whereas sibyls tended to speak only if consulted on specific questions. They sometimes answered in riddles or rhetorical questions.

The Holy Family with the infant St. John the Baptist

c. 1503-05 (130 Kb); Tempera on panel, Diameter 120 cm (47 in); Uffizi, Florence

The Separation of Light from the Darkness

Detail of the Sistine Chapel, appearing over the head of the Prophet Jeremiah
Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel from 1508 to 1512, commissioned by Pope Julius II. On becoming pope in 1503, Julius II reasserted papal authority over the Roman barons and successfully backed the restauration of the Medici in Florence.

[source:ebeijing.gov.cn]