Calixto II, Pontifex Romanus

ilustre Calixto II, Pontifex Romanus

Calixto II, Pontifex Romanus
oil, 81x65cm.

Imagined Portrait of Calixto II. Pontifex Romanus
Based on written and historical sources.

He is painted on a neutral background in which a soft celestial light illuminates him while he writes his celebrated manuscript. Concentrating on his task he supports himself on a lectern in the shape of a column, at its base other books covered with parchment give more support.

The Pope wears a crown and a layered cape richly decorated with pearls and precious stones, in his search for God’s reflection here on earth, just like the four Evangelists in animal form, the classic Tetramorphis, which permits the Pope’s symbolic union with them, in his tradition of writing sacred books.

He is found in a praying position along with the discovered head of the Saint’s apparition on a cloud that illuminates him. He is completely absorbed in contemplation; he wears a white religious habit and the cross of the order he founded, that is repeated in a standard way on the scroll that Santiago carries. His rolled up sleeves lets the viewer see the soldier’s condition, on Mayan heights as well as his sword. He has long shredded hair like the gentlemen in the book and his religious order. In the lower part of the painting his name and the posters are inscribed in Latin just like the same text that appears on his grave.