attributed to Pedro Berruguete: Portrait of Pope Sixtus IV (early 1500s)

(Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, USA)

A painting attributed to the Spanish artist Pedro Berruguete (1450-1504). Pope Sixtus IV was an Italian and was born as Francesco della Rovere. He was pope from 1471 to his death in 1484 and has a mixed legacy. Sixtus IV was a patron of the arts and the sciences and is best known for the building of the Sistine Chapel (the chapel was named after him) and the and the creation of the Vatican Apostolic Library. On the other hand he surrounded himself with his friends and relatives who he gave positions at the papal court in roder to strengthen his own position. He was also involved with assassination attempt of both duke Lorenzo de' Medici of Florence and his brother Giuliano (the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478). Painting from the early 1500s.