No. 6: Enea Silvio is Elevated to Cardinal

The narrow north wall of the library contains two scenes, the fifth and the sixth of the cycle. The sixth scene shows Pope Calixtus III Borgia anointing Enea Silvio a cardinal on December 17, 1456. In that same ceremony the pope’s nephew, Rodrigo Borgia - the later Pope Alexander VI - was elevated to the same dignity. The focus of the scene is the altar retable, a painting of the Madonna with Saints James and Andrew, the patron saints of the Piccolomini.