From the fifteenth century onwards, portraiture was given a newfound momentum in Venice, with the genre growing in popularity among the upper classes, whose members wished to be immortalised for the future. During the Renaissance, portraiture was further consolidated as a form of self-affirmation of the sitter, and although it would take time to be recognised as a major genre in its own right, commissions began to grow due to its documentary value. In turn there also emerged a need to compile galleries of eminent figures, with the purpose of bearing visual testimony of each one of the protagonists and venerating their images as if they were icons.

That may well have been the case of this portrait of Gregory XIII, one of the most influential popes in the sixteenth century. Born Ugo Buoncompagni, he had a remarkable career prior to being proclaimed pope. In 1565, he was sent to Spain as pontifical legate to investigate the Cardinal of Toledo. During his time there he gained the favour of King Philip II, which would be crucial in his later appointment as pope in 1572, a role he fulfilled until his death in 1585. His papacy was instrumental in regenerating the Church, continuing the work begun by his predecessor, Pius V. His reform focused on the abolition of ecclesiastical abuse and the promotion of the educational and moral training of future clerics, a task which he entrusted especially to the Society of Jesus, one of the basic pillars of his work of renewal. In 1582, following the advice of the Jesuit astronomer Christopher Clavius, he established the Gregorian Calendar, which adjusted for the drift of the solar year and contributed significantly to the scientific culture of the Renaissance.

Portrayed with the clothing characteristic of his post, he is wearing a wintery ermine-trimmed vermilion velvet mozzetta (short cloak or cape), matched by a camauro (cap) made with the same material, traditionally worn in the cold winter months instead of the biretta. A legend on the top of the painting specifies that it is a portrait of Gregory XIII made in 1572, the year when he was proclaimed pope. This way of providing information about the sitter by placing it against the background was often used by artists who accepted certain limitations when it came to interpreting the face, thus ensuring the correct identification in the future. In this case, although authorship of the work is unknown, it has high commemorative value, as its goal was to bear visual testimony to a historical moment as important as the appointment of a new pontiff.