Raphael, 'Pope Julius II', 1511

Pope Julius II

Raphael

Not on display

About the work

Overview

This portrait of the careworn Pope Julius II (1443–1513) is usually dated to the one-and-a-half-year period during which he wore a beard. He grew it in 1510 as a token of mortification while recovering from a serious illness brought on by the loss of Bologna to the French, and vowed not to shave it off until French troops had been expelled from Italy, which happened in 1512. Julius was a great patron of the arts, commissioning Raphael to decorate the papal apartments in the Vatican and ordering the rebuilding of St Peter’s in Rome.

The two golden acorns on the Pope’s chair allude to his family name, della Rovere (rovere is Italian for oak). The portrait was displayed on 12 December 1513, after Julius’s death, in the Roman church of Santa Maria del Popolo. It was enormously influential and became the model for ecclesiastical portraiture over the following 200 years.

In-depth

This portrait of Pope Julius II (1443–1513) is usually dated to the one-and-a-half-year period during which he wore a beard. He grew it as a token of mortification between October and December 1510 while recovering from a serious illness brought on by the loss of Bologna to French troops, and vowed to remain unshaven until the French were chased out of Italy. He removed his beard only when events took a turn for the better in March 1512.

It is likely that the portrait was painted very shortly after the Pope returned from his military campaign in Emilia-Romagna on 27 June 1511. His careworn expression may be explained by his continuing precarious state of health. In August 1511 he was struck by a second near-fatal illness, during which he received his Last Rites.

The two golden acorns on the chair allude to his family name, della Rovere (rovere is Italian for oak). The reflections in their gleaming surface reveal that Julius was seated opposite a doorway in a narrow room lit by a mullioned window. Raphael may have painted the portrait in Julius’s apartment on the third floor of the Vatican palace – perhaps the room where he received visitors, which was lit by similar windows. The portrait was displayed on 12 December 1513, after Julius’s death, in the Roman church of Santa Maria del Popolo, which had been redecorated at the expense of the della Rovere family.

Before Raphael covered it with the plain green colour visible today, the background was decorated with heraldic symbols representing the papal tiara, papal crossed keys and another symbol which was probably the yellow oak tree of the della Rovere coat of arms. The design would have looked very busy, with the yellow, blue and white pattern distracting from the extraordinary portrayal of the aged Pope deep in thought. Raphael’s decision to replace it with a green background may have been prompted by Justus of Ghent’s portrait of Julius’s uncle, Pope Sixtus IV, which shows a pope with a green damask curtain behind him. Raphael would have known the portrait from the ducal palace in his hometown of Urbino, where his father had been court painter. The colours red, white and green – repeated in the stones on the sitter’s finger rings – are also those of the three theological virtues: charity, faith and hope.

Raphael’s portrait was enormously influential and became the model for ecclesiastical portraiture over the following 200 years. Sebastiano, Titian, El Greco, Velázquez, Domenichino, Reni and Guercino are among the many artists who adopted this formula. The three-quarter length format brings the viewer very close to the elderly, war-like Pope, who, when asked if he wanted to be shown with a book in his hand in a sculpture by Michelangelo, replied: ‘Give me a sword; I am not a man of letters.’ Raphael’s portrait, however, is not the portrait of a warmonger but an astonishingly intimate image of a careworn elderly man. Pope Julius was a great patron of the arts, commissioning Raphael to decorate the papal apartments (Vatican Stanze) and ordering the rebuilding of St Peter’s in Rome.

The National Gallery’s painting is very close to the portrait in Raphael’s fresco of Julius as Gregory IX approving the Decretals for the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican, which was completed by August 1511. The heads in the easel portrait and the fresco match each other line for line – it seems likely that Raphael made the easel portrait first, studying his model from life.

Want to find out more?

Delve deeper and explore the catalogue entry for this painting.

Key facts

Details

Full title: Portrait of Pope Julius II
Artist: Raphael
Artist dates: 1483 - 1520
Date made: 1511
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 108.7 × 81 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1824
Inventory number: NG27
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: John Julius Angerstein
Frame: 16th-century Italian Frame

Provenance

Certainly identifiable, through the painted inventory number, 118, with the picture of that number in the 1693 inventory of pictures in Palazzo Borghese in Campo Marzio, Rome, and thus presumably identical with the picture which was in S. Maria del Popolo from 1513 to 1591, in the possession of Cardinal Sfondrati from 1591 to 1608, and in Borghese possession from then on. Probably left Borghese possession between 1794 and 1797. In the Angerstein collection by the time of the catalogue of 1823. Bought with the Angerstein collection, 1824.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Cecil Gould, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1987; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2008

Renaissance Faces: Van Eyck to Titian

The National Gallery (London)

15 October 2008 - 18 January 2009
2020

Raphael

Scuderie del Quirinale

5 March 2020 - 30 August 2020
2022

The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Raphael

The National Gallery (London)

9 April 2022 - 31 July 2022
2022

Julius II and Raphael. A new phase of the Renaissance in Bologna

Pinacoteca Nazionale (Bologna)

8 October 2022 - 5 February 2023

Bibliography

1823

J. Young, A Catalogue of the Celebrated Collection of Pictures of the Late John Julius Angerstein, Esq: Containing a Finished Etching of Every Picture, and Accompanied with Historical and Biographical Notices, London 1823
1835

W.Y. Ottley, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery: With Critical Remarks on their Merits, London 1835
1860

J.D. Passavant, Raphaël d'Urbin et son père Giovanni Santi, Paris 1860
1878

G. Vasari, Le vite de'più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architettori: Con nuove annotazioni e commenti di Gaetano Milanesi, ed. G. Milanesi, 8 vols, Florence 1878
1879

F. Stefani et al. (eds), I diarii di Marino Sanuto, Venice 1879
1882

J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, Raphael: His Life and Works, 2 vols, London 1882
1922

J. Pfau, Nachtrag zur kunstgeschichtlichen Untersuchung über die Madonna von Loretto, Zürich 1922
1923

A. Rosenberg, Raffael, des Meisters Gemälde, in 274 Abbildungen, ed. G. Gronau, Berlin 1923
1925

L. Burchard, 'Zwei Papstbildnisse Tizians', Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen, XLVI, 1925
1936

G. Gronau, Documenti artistici urbinati, Florence 1936
1948

O. Fischel, Raphael, trans. B. Rackham, London 1948
1955

M. Putscher, Raphael's Sixtinische Madonna: Das Werk und seine Wirkung, Tübingen 1955
1956

A.M.F. Ciaranfi, Die Galerie Pitti in Florenz, Munich 1956
1964

P. Della Pergola, 'L'Inventario Borghese del 1693, I', Arte antica e moderna, XXVI, 1964, pp. 219-30
1965

P. Della Pergola, 'L'Inventario Borghese del 1693, III', Arte antica e moderna, XXX, 1965, pp. 202-17
1970

C. Gould, Raphael's Portrait of Pope Julius II, the Re-Emergence of the Original, London 1970
1970

C. Gould, 'The Raphael Portrait of Julius II, Problems of Versions and Variants; and a Goose That Turned into a Swan', Apollo, XCII, 1970, pp. 187-9
1970

K. Schwager, 'Über Jean Fouquet in Italien, und sein verlorenes Porträt Papst Eugens IV', in L. Dittmann and M. Gosebruch (eds), Argo, Festschrift für Kurt Badt, Cologne 1970, pp. 206-34
1971

L. Düssler, Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of His Pictures, Wall-Paintings and Tapestries, trans. S. Cruft, London 1971
1971

K. Oberhuber, 'Raphael and the State Portrait, I: The Portrait of Julius II', The Burlington Magazine, CXIII, 1971, pp. 124-30
1975

C. Gould, Delaroche and Gautier: Gautier's Views on the 'Execution of Lady Jane Grey' and on other Compositions by Delaroche, London 1975
1976

B.B. Fredericksen, 'New Information on Raphael's Madonna di Loreto', John Paul Getty Museum Journal, III, 1976, pp. 5-45
1977

J. Steer, 'Mr Bacon's Titian: The Selwyn Brinton Lecture', Royal Society of Arts Journal, CXXV/5254, 1977
1977

M.J. Zucker, 'Raphael and the Beard of Pope Julius II', Art Bulletin, LIX, 1977, pp. 524-33
1980

L. Partridge and R. Starn, A Renaissance Likeness: Art and Culture in Raphael's Julius II, Berkeley 1980
1981

R. Quednau, 'Raphael's "Julius II": Review: Loren Partridge and Randolf Starn, "A Renaissance Likeness: Art and Culture in Raphael's Julius II", 1980', The Burlington Magazine, CXXIII, 1981, pp. 551-3
1982

P. de Vecchi, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Raphael, Paris 1982
1983

R. Jones and N. Penny, Raphael, New Haven 1983
1983

C. Gould, 'Raphael's Papal Patrons', Apollo, CXVII, 1983, pp. 358-61
1984

C. Gould, 'The Millionaire and the Madonna', The Connoisseur, CCXIV, 1984, pp. 98-101
1984

H. Ost, 'Tizian: Paul III und die Nipoten', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, XLV, 1984, pp. 113-30
1984

G. Barberini, D. Bernini and S. Stacciolis, Raffaello nelle raccolte Borghese (exh. cat. Museo e Galleria Borghese, January - Mar 1984), Rome 1984
1987

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
1987

V. Martinelli, 'I ritratti papali di Raffaello', in M. Sambucco Hamoud and M.L. Strocchi (eds), Studi su Raffaello: Atti del Congresso Internazionale di Studi, 1984, Urbino 1987, pp. 517-31
1987

F. Hartt, 'Lo Specchio Urbinate', in M. Sambucco Hamoud and M.L. Strocchi (eds), Studi su Raffaello: Atti del Congresso Internazionale di Studi, 1984, Urbino 1987, pp. 19-32
1989

I. Cloulas, Jules II: Le pape terrible, Paris 1989
1989

S.F. Pagden and M.A. Zancan, Raffaello: Catalogo completo dei dipinti, Florence 1989
1990

L. Campbell, Renaissance Portraits: European Portrait-Painting in the 14th, 15th and 16th Centuries, New Haven 1990
1990

J. Plesters, 'Technical Aspects of some Paintings by Raphael in the National Gallery', in J. Shearman and M.B. Hall (eds), The Princeton Raphael Symposium: Science in the Service of Art History, Princeton 1990, pp. 15-37
1992

J. Shearman, Only Connect: Art and the Spectator in the Italian Renaissance, Princeton 1992
1993

C. Shaw, Julius Ii, the Warrior Pope, Oxford 1993
1994

B. Kempers, 'Bezetting in beeld: Julius II en de Bentivoglio's in Bologna, 1504-1509', Incontri, IX, 1994, pp. 161-93
1995

J. Shearman, 'Il mecenatismo di Giulio II e Leone X', in A. Esch and C.L. Frommel (eds), Arte, committenza ed economia a Roma e nelle corti del Rinascimento: 1420-1530, Turin 1995, pp. 213-42
1996

J.H. Beck, 'The Portrait of Julius II in London's National Gallery. The Goose That Turned into a Gander', Artibus et historiae, XXXIII, 1996, pp. 69-95
1997

F.C. Serraller, Rafael, Madrid 1997
1997

E. Schröter, 'Raffael: Rom unter Papst Julius II: 1509-1513', in G. Krause and G. Müller (eds), Theologische Realenzyklopädie, Berlin 1997, vol. 38, pp. 98-100
1998

S. Buck and P. Hohenstatt, Raffaello Santi, Known as Raphael, 1483-1520, Cologne 1998
1999

R. Freiherr Hiller von Gaertringen, Raffaels Lernerfahrungen in der Werkstatt Peruginos: Kartonverwendung und Motivübernahme im Wandel, Munich 1999
1999

B. Kempers, 'Julius inter laudem et vituperationem. Ein Papst unter gegensätzlichen Gesichtspunkten betrachtet', in P. Kruse (ed.), Hochrenaissance im Vatikan: Kunst und Kultur im Rom der Päpste 1503-1534, Ostfildern 1999, pp. 15-29
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2001

T. Henry, 'Reflections on Il Marcillat's Work in the Vatican Palace', Apollo, CLII, 2001, pp. 18-27
2002

B. Nygren, 'Cognitive Psychology and the Reception of Raphael's Pope Julius II', Source, XXI, 2002, pp. 22-9
2003

J. Shearman, Raphael in Early Modern Sources (1483-1602), New Haven 2003
2004

J. Dunkerton and A. Roy, 'The Altered Background of Raphael's Portrait of Pope Julius II in the National Gallery, London', The Burlington Magazine, 2004
2004

A. Roy, M. Spring and C. Plazzotta, 'Raphael's Early Work in the National Gallery: Paintings before Rome', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XXV, 2004, pp. 4-35
2004

H. Chapman, T. Henry and C. Plazzotta, Raphael: From Urbino to Rome (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 20 October 2004 - 16 January 2005), London 2004
2004

B. Kempers, 'The Pope's Two Bodies: Julius II, Raphael and Saint Luke's Virgin of Santa Maria del Popolo', in E. Thunø and G. Wolf (eds), The Miraculous Image in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance: Papers from a Conference held at the Accademia di Danimarca in Collaboration with the Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome 31 May - 2 June 2003, Rome 2004, pp. 135-59
2005

G.R. Terminiello and G. Nepis (eds), Giulio II: Papa, politico: Atti del Convegno: Savona, Fortezza del Priamar, Sala della Sibilla, 25-26-27 marzo 2004, Genova 2005
2005

C. Shaw, 'The Motivation for the Patronage of Pope Julius II', in M. Gosman, A. Macdonald and A. Vanderjagt (eds), Princes and Princely Culture 1450-1650, Leiden 2005, vol. 2, pp. 43-61
2005

F. Petrucci, 'Papal Portraiture since the 16th Century', in Papi in Posa: 500 Years of Papal Portraiture, Rome 2005, pp. 27-53
2006

S. Gazzola, '"Di breve lin facendo eterno laccio": Itinerari simbolici del fazzoletto', Venezia cinquecento, XXXI, 2006, pp. 147-87
2006

P. Zitzlsperger, 'L'audience comme légitimation du soverain', in T.W. Gaehtgens and N. Hochner (eds), L'image du roi de François Ier à Louis XIV: Colloque au Centre allemande d'histoire de l'art, Juin 2002, Paris 2006, pp. 314-341
2008

L. Syson et al., Renaissance Faces: Van Eyck to Titian (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 15 October 2008 - 16 January 2009), London 2008
2010

A. Donati, Ritratto e figura nel manierismo a Roma: Michelangelo Buonarrotti, Jacopino del Conte, Daniele Ricciarelli, San Marino 2010
2022

Plazzotta, Carol, and Tom Henry, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, 4, Raphael, London 2022

Frame

This is a carved sixteenth-century Italian cassetta frame. Crafted from poplar wood, the original water gilding is remarkably well preserved.

The back edge features an egg-and-dart motif. At the back moulding, an acanthus-leaf-and-tongue motif curves down towards the double bead-and-reel motif. The frieze is adorned with flower buds, from which scrolling foliage and flowers with tendrils extend towards the corners. The sight edge has a twisted ribbon followed by a leaf-and-tongue motif.

A testament to its craftsmanship, the frame still retains its original hanging hook (now decorative). The frame was fitted to Raphael’s Pope Julius II in 2019.

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images

Insights

Matthias Wivel, our Curator of 16th-century Italian paintings, gives a talk about the portrait of Julius II by Raphael. Julius II belonged to the della Rovere family. He was a forceful ruler, who reasserted his power over the Papal States by military action, and as a consequence he was nicknamed the ‘Warrior Pope’. He chose his papal name, ‘Julius’, not in honour of Pope Julius I, but in emulation of Julius Caesar. He patronised the arts and ordered the rebuilding of St Peter's in Rome.

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The Warrior Pope: Raphael’s ‘Pope Julius II’ | Talks for All | National Gallery

View time: 23:09

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