From the accession of Pope Clement in November 1523, Michelangelo worked like a demon at San Lorenzo. However, there was no avoiding the intrusion of contemporary events. At the beginning of 1527, Michelangelo witnessed a curtailment of funds devoted to San Lorenzo, and more important, in Medici and papal ambitions. Pope Clement stood on the brink of a European conflict. He had attempted and had failed to juggle the contending powers of the Holy Roman Emperor and the king of France, to contain the bickering and villainous behavior of the various Italian states, and to stem the tide of defection from the Catholic Church. Michelangelo inquired whether his salary would be continued given “that the times are unfavorable to this art of mine.” A classic understatement: with Europe on the verge of an international crisis, Michelangelo worried about funding for San Lorenzo.

Clement was a great Maecenas but an unfortunate politician. Through intrigue and hesitation, he brought the papacy face to face with disaster. In May 1527, for the first time in more than a thousand years, Rome was brutally sacked by ill-governed troops of the Holy Roman Emperor. It was a devastating blow for the pope and for Italy, politically and psychologically. The San Lorenzo commissions came to an abrupt halt, and Michelangelo was soon caught up in circumstances beyond his control.

Shortly after news of the Sack of Rome reached Florence, the Medici were expelled from the city and a republican government was reinstated.