THE SISTINE CHAPEL, A LECTURE BY ROSS KING  Princethorpe College, Sixth Form Centre, Rugby CV23 9PX  Tuesday 21 February, 10.30 – 11.30 am  In 1508, Pope Julius II – known because of his military expeditions as the ‘Warrior Pope’ – commissioned Michelangelo to fresco the vault of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo had very limited experience of the physically and technically difficult technique of fresco, much less on the underside of a 12,000-square-foot surface. His reputation had been made in sculpture, with works such as the Pietà and the David, rather than in paint. This illustrated lecture examines the circumstances surrounding Michelangelo’s commission and how, in the four years between 1508 and 1512, he worked on his immense fresco in direct competition with Raphael, his younger and prodigiously talented contemporary, who was working on his own frescoes a few steps away in the Papal Apartments.  Our lecturer, Ross King, is the best-selling author of books on French and Italian art history. His book, Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling was published in 2002. His latest publication, The Bookseller of Florence, was the subject of four years of research and writing and marks his return to the ‘Golden Age’ of fifteenth-century Florence.  We are grateful to Princethorpe College for their support of this lecture.  Timing:  10am meet for coffee.  10.30 the lecture begins and it ends around 11.45.  Price per ticket: £14 including tea/biscuits on arrival  Booking: see Event Booking Booking closes on Monday 13 February  Contact: Susan Yeomans sue@artfriendswarks.uk or suziequality@gmail.com