Cardinal Alessandro Farnese
by TIZIANO Vecellio, Oil on canvas, 97 x 73 cm
Alessandro Farnese (1520—1589) was the son of Pier Luigi Farnese and the grandson of Pope Paul III. Though he was showered with ecclesiastical honors by his grandfather, he did not succeed in becoming pope when Paul died in 1549. Nonetheless, he continued to exert considerable influence on Roman politics until his death, and was in addition, a particularly important patron of the arts.