Their child, Giulio de'Medici, was later crowned Pope Clement VII. Clement took a black slave girl as a mistress. Their child, Allessandro, became the first black head of state when he was made ...

The 16th-century Italian artist undermined the Renaissance-era rules of illusionistic space with this playful, virtuosic painting.

Its most famous use came during the 1527 Sack of Rome, when Pope Clement VII evaded imperial forces via the corridor, seeking refuge in the heavily fortified Castel Sant’Angelo. (AP Video shot ...

In 1534 Michelangelo's childhood friend, Pope Clement VII, was dying. Desperate to make one last grand gesture, he summoned Michelangelo to complete his work in the Sistine Chapel. This was the ...

Parmigianino painted this “Self-Portrait” to demonstrate to Pope Clement VII his dazzling talent and earn the bounty of papal patronage. As an artist from the northern Italian town of Parma ...