The popes of Rome - their church and state in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (1846) (14766827855)

The Pope is depicted in three-quarter view, wearing a fur-lined velvet mozzetta and a camauro skullcap. He sits in an armchair adorned with acorn finials, holding a handkerchief in his right hand while his left hand, adorned with several rings, rests on the armrest. His long white beard and downcast gaze convey a sense of somber, psychological depth.

Pope Julius II was the defining patron of the High Renaissance, commissioning the decoration of the Vatican Stanze. His support of Raphael and Michelangelo facilitated the visual synthesis of Neoplatonic philosophy, classical antiquity, and Christian theology, most notably in the programs of the Stanza della Segnatura.