# Pope Clement VII [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 145 x 110 cm ## Commentary In this portrait of Clement VII, the illegitimate son of Lorenzo il Magnifico's brother and patron of both Michelangelo and Sebastiano, greater attention is given to the figure and less to the space around him. In Sebastiano's portrait, the not altogether handsome Medici pope is rendered dignified and monumentalised. While the portrait type itself derives from Raphael's Julius II, other elements reveal his debt to Michelangelo, such as the enlarged hand dangling from the chair. The elegant treatment of material and the placement of light that flickers over the entire figure produce ample visual excitement. ## Related artworks - [A Young Roman Woman]() - [Birth of the Virgin]() - [Christ Carrying the Cross]() - [Christ Descends into Limbo]() - [Death of Adonis]() - [Flagellation of Christ]() - [Holy Family with a Donor and the Infant St John \(recto\)]() - [Lamentation of Christ \(detail\)]() - [Lamentation of Christ]() - [Martyrdom of St Agatha]() - [Pietà]() - [Polyphemus]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()