Cleveland Museum of Art

Portrait of Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere

Pedro Berruguete

Date

c. 1476–82

Medium

oil on wood, transferred to canvas

Culture

Spain

Department

European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Spanish artist Pedro Berruguete spent a decade in Italy in the 1470s and 1480s, including a period in Rome during which he painted Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere from life. Here, the pope raises his hand in a gesture of benediction, blessing the viewer while meeting their gaze. Using white highlights to represent the glittering luminosity of the bejeweled garments, Berruguete accentuates Sixtus IV’s sumptuous attire, including the triregnum, or ceremonial triple crown and symbol of the papacy. James Jackson Jarves (1818–1888)—famed art critic and one of the first Americans to amass a collection of medieval, Renaissance, Mannerist, and Baroque paintings from Italy—owned this painting in the late 19th century.

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