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Michelangelo: money and medals
Bronze medal of Paul III, by Alessandro Cesati
This medal by Alessandro Cesati shows a secular prince - Alexander the Great - kneeling before a religious leader - the High Priest of Jerusalem. It was meant as a compliment to Pope Paul III, whose portrait appears on the other side. On seeing the medal, Michelangelo is said to have exclaimed that the death of the art of medal-making had arrived as medals could not be made better. This episode is recounted by Michelangelo's friend, the artist and writer Giorgio Vasari, in his biography of the artist.
In 1535, one year after becoming pope, Paul III appointed Michelangelo Supreme Architect, Sculptor and Painter to the Vatican Palace. He earned a monthly salary of 100 gold scudi, a large sum which was twelve times what Emperor Charles V was paying the painter Titian that year. Michelangelo continued to work for successive popes until his death in 1564.