Pope Julius II (born Giuliano della Rovere) was a character from the Irving Stone novel The Agony and the Ecstasy and the movie based upon the novel. By the early 1500s Julius was the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Somewhat hot tempered, Julius was more skilled as a solider than a priest. As such he set out on campaigns across the mid section of Italy to retrieve lands for the Papal States. Julius told Michelangelo the completed ceiling represented something much greater than either of them. Saying "To work, my son" he left Michelangelo alone in the chapel.