Rome of the 15th century has been despoiled by multiple invasions, and the ruins of the city left to be overgrown.  Florentine humanist Poggio Bracciolini described the city as a “moldering cadaver”.

The rise of Julius II to pope in 1503 helped signal a shift in artistic activity back to Rome.  During his 10 year reign, Julius started a Roman Renaissance, started by the commissioning of the new St. Peters Basillica.