CEL V01 D279 leo x giulio de medici and l de rossi

The Pope is shown in three-quarter view, engaged in the study of a finely detailed book, highlighting his reputation as a humanist scholar and patron. To his left stands Giulio de' Medici and to his right Luigi de' Rossi, both cardinals and relatives of the Pope. A silver bell and the heavy textures of the velvet and silk garments emphasize the material wealth and intellectual refinement of the Vatican court.

Leo X was the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the primary patron of the Florentine Neoplatonic Academy; his papacy represents the culmination of Medici influence on Western intellectual history. The depiction of the Pope with a manuscript and magnifying glass emphasizes the humanist tradition of 'ad fontes' (to the sources), which underpinned the recovery of Hermetic, Neoplatonic, and Kabbalistic texts during the Renaissance.