Raphael at the Uffizi - Portrait if Pope Leo X
Giovanni de’ Medici was elected Pope in 1513 under the name of Leo X. About five years later, the Pope commissioned his portrait to Raphael, who was living in Rome at the time, having been appointed Superintendent of Antiquities by the Pope himself. The majestic portrait shows the Medici pope seated at a table, magnifying lens in hand, before an illuminated manuscript. Behind him are two prelates, Cardinals Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi. The work arrived in Florence in 1518, immediately after having been completed. Here it was praised by Vasari for its figures which are “not fake, but painted in full relief”. For the “rustling and shining” damask robe, for the “soft and realistic” fur linings, for the golden knob on the chair which reflects “the light from the windows, the Pope’s shoulders and the surrounding room”. Exemplary restoration has rivived the brilliance and intense chromatic variety of reds. Antonio Natali, who directed the restoration work, has noted that the two cardinals are by another hand, probably added by a valid collaborator of Raphael such as Sebastiano del Piombo or Giuliano Romano.
