At the time of one of the most famous periods in art history, the Renaissance, the Papacy was at its most powerful point in history. During this time, those with money who commission artists to prove that they are above others and that they give plenty to the Church. Popes and bishops themselves who try to prove themselves the most powerful by paying artists to show their wealth; some of the most famous and influential pieces of art you see today are all because of them. In 1506, Pope Julius II hired many artists and architects to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica. As said by Michelangelo, who worked to perfect the building, "It cannot be …show more content…
They did so through their many debates about what the Bible actually says, debates that were never successfully resolved and therefore produced multiple contradictory religious truth claims. The result was a growing lack of confidence in religious truth itself that contributed directly to the marginalization of theology and God from life in the modern period. Whereas in the Middle Ages Christianity had provided the social glue and fundamental sense of meaning and purpose for human existence, in the modern world these crucial functions have been taken over by