Pope Gregory XVI, Antique Lithograph Portrait, circa 1831

A large lithographed portrait of Pope Gregory XVI, lettered in bold capitals in German "Pabst Gregor XVI.", using the old spelling of Papst. The drawing is signed in the stone at lower left of the image with the artist's name followed by "del." and the date 1831, the year in which Gregory was elected pope.

Gregory XVI, born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari at Belluno in 1765, entered the Camaldolese order of monks as a young man and became a scholar and theologian of note. He was elected pope in February 1831 and reigned until his death in 1846. His pontificate was marked by revolts in the Papal States, by firm opposition to political liberalism, and by a strong interest in the missions, in learning and in the museums of the Vatican, where he founded the Etruscan and Egyptian collections.

The pope is shown half length and nearly frontal, his head turned slightly to the right, wearing the small white zucchetto. Over a dark cape with a broad fur edge he wears a richly embroidered stole, worked with scrolling foliage, cartouches and papal emblems. The artist draws the face in soft, careful tone, with a long nose, heavy eyelids and a firm mouth, while the stole and cape are freely sketched with the crayon so that the figure dissolves into the paper at the lower edge.

Lithography spread rapidly across the German speaking lands in the 1820s and 1830s and was the natural medium for portraits of rulers and churchmen issued for a broad public. An early likeness of Gregory XVI such as this one will appeal to collectors of papal portraits, of church history and of early lithography. It would frame well in a gilt or dark molding in a study or library.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.