Portrait of Pope Clement XIII, 1759. Clement XIII was of the Venetian Rezzonico family and reigned as pope from 1758 to 1769. Mengs did several versions of Clement's portrait, and this one was probably carried out for Apostolic Vicar Domenico Rossi, whose name appears on the letter held by the pope. For centuries, the blessing gesture directed to the viewer had been common in images of Christ's representative on earth.

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Size: 3462px × 4960px
Photo credit: © Heritage Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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