# No. 8: Pope Pius II at the Congress of Mantua [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [PINTURICCHIO]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Fresco ## Commentary No. 8: Pope Pius II at the Congress of Mantua 1502-08 Fresco Piccolomini Library, Duomo, Siena The pope, engaged in debate with the patriarch of Constantinople, sits enthroned in profile on the right. The patriarch stands across from him, beyond the circle of seated cardinals. The foreground figures in Ottoman dress make it clear that this is the congress convened by Pius II on June 26, 1459. From his Commentarii we know that Pius II received various embassies in Mantua, from Cyprus, Rhodes, Lesbos, Albania, and Asia. ## Related artworks - [Adoration of the Christ Child \(detail\)]() - [Adoration of the Christ Child]() - [Ceiling decoration \(detail\)]() - [Ceiling decoration \(detail\)]() - [Ceiling decoration]() - [Ceiling decoration]() - [Christ among the Doctors \(detail\)]() - [Christ among the Doctors]() - [Death of St Bernardine]() - [Entrance to the Piccolomini Library]() - [Four Enthroned Sibyls]() - [Homage to Pope Eugenius IV in the Name of Emperor Frederick III]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()