Pius VII, pope (1740-1823)

David's Pius VII, Pope of 1806, one of several versions he produced of the papal portrait series, depicts the Pope during his extended Paris visit for the coronation, capturing the complex situation of a spiritual leader held partly as Napoleon's prestigious hostage. The multiple versions of the papal portrait were distributed to diplomatic missions and administrative bodies throughout the Empire, and David's management of a papal likeness served simultaneously as documentation and as assertion of the complex relationship between Imperial and ecclesiastical authority.

The papal vestments are rendered with David's mastery of ceremonial costume — white cassock, red mozzetta, and embroidered stole are each distinguished by their specific textures and light-reflecting properties. The face is painted with careful, sympathetic attention to the aging pontiff's gentle features.