Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison portroy two of the Renaissances most colourful figures in this historical drama based on Irving Stones Best-seller set in the early 16th century. When Pope Julius II (Harrison) commissions Michelangelo (Heston) to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the artist initially refuses. Virtually forced to do the job by Julius, he later destroys his own work and flees Rome. Eventually resumed, the project becomes a battle of wills fueled by artistic and temperamental differences that form the core of this movie.