Pope Paul III. Farnese

Titian completed a series of portraits of this pope, whose reign began in 1534 (with or without assistants, with or without head covering); all the originals can be found in Naples. The Viennese picture is considered a replica, as are those in the Hermitage and in Paris. Yet even here one feels Titian’s profound psychological insight in the depiction of this personality, who was also remarkably important as a patron of the arts. The compositional model was Raphael’s portrait of Pope Julius II (London, National Gallery).