A Guide to
​St Peter's Basilica

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Monument to Pope Leo XI

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Monument to Pope Leo XI

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Monument to Pope Leo XI (1633-44) by Alessandro Algardi
​(Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, Florence, b.1535/r.1605)
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Pope Leo XI, who only reigned for 27 days, was born Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, a member of the famous Florentine family and the great-nephew of Pope Leo X (r. 1513-21).  The brevity of his reign earned him the nickname 'il papa lampante' ('the lightning pope'). Pop

The monument, which stands in the third bay of the left aisle, was commissioned by the pope's grand-nephew, Cardinal Roberto Ubaldini, and designed by Alessandro Algardi (1595-1654), a sculptor from Bologna who spent most of his working life in Rome.

The two allegorical figures represent Magnanimity and Liberality, the work, respectively, of Ercole Ferrata and Giuseppe Peroni. The bas-relief depicts King Henry IV repudiating Protestantism in order to inherit the French throne; Pope Leo XI had been the cardinal legate to France when this happened. The wilting roses at the base of the monument, and the inscription 'SIC FLORVI' (Thus he flourished), refer to the brevity of Pope Leo XI's reign (April 1st to April 27th, 1605).

The epitaph reads: D. O. M. / LEONI XI MEDICI FLORENΤΙΝΟ PONT. OPT. MAX / QVI AD SVMMAM ECCLESIA DEI FOELICITATEM / OSTENSVS MAGIS QVAM DATVS / CHRISTIANVM ORBEM BREVI XXVII. DIERVM LÆTITIA / ET LONGO ANNORVM MOERORE COMPLEVIT / ROBERTVS CARDINALIS VBALDINVS EX SORORE / PRONEPOS GRATI AΝΙΜΙ ΜΟNVMENTVM P / OBIIT AN. ATATIS SVA LXIX. QVINTO KAL MAII / M. D. C. V.

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Bas-relief

SIC FLORVI