Portrait of Pope Sixtus IV

Titian never saw the man he painted here. Pope Sixtus IV had been dead for more than 60 years by the time this portrait was made, around 1540. The della Rovere dukes of Urbino wanted images of their famous ancestors, and Sixtus, born Francesco della Rovere, was the grandest of them, so Titian worked from what survived, most likely an old medal or a fresco by Melozzo da Forli, to rebuild the sharp, wary face. Sixtus was the pope who built the Sistine Chapel that still carries his name. The panel travelled to Florence in 1631 as part of a della Rovere marriage dowry, which is how a Venetian portrait of a Roman pope ended up in the Uffizi.