Portrait of Clement VII with beard

This 1529 portrait of Pope Clement VII with beard was painted shortly after the devastating Sack of Rome in 1527, when the pope grew his beard as a sign of mourning. Sebastiano del Piombo was the preferred portraitist of the Medici pope, and his images of Clement became the standard visual record of the pontiff. Sebastiano del Piombo's portraits represent one of the most significant contributions to the genre in the sixteenth century, combining the Venetian colorist tradition in which he was trained (under Giorgione and Titian) with the Roman monumental figure style he absorbed through his close friendship and collaboration with Michelangelo. His portraits have a quality of monumental presence unusual in the portrait format: the sitters occupy their space with an authority derived from the sculptural weight of his figure painting. His ability to synthesize the two dominant traditions of Italian Renaissance painting — Venetian color, Roman form — made him one of the most distinctive portrait painters of his generation.

The papal portrait combines Sebastiano's Venetian mastery of color with the monumental dignity appropriate to the papacy, rendering the pope's bearded features with penetrating psychological insight and rich tonal depth.