In November of 2025, I began work on a commission of our current Pope, Leo XIV. When the project was first discussed in the summer of 2025, we decided to use an older pose of Pope Pius XII, depicting him seated in a three-quarter composition.
Due to a miscommunication on my part, I believed the project had been changed to a portrait of Pope Pius XII. With that understanding, I embarked on painting one of the most ornate portraits of my 32-year painting career. I was nearing completion when I reached out to my client to share the progress. Their response was, "Beautiful portrait, but it is the wrong pope."
After weeks of work, I couldn't muster much more than, "No problem, I'll make it right." I could not help but laugh. What do you do in a situation like that? I was mistaken, and fortunately, I had the ability to fix it.
Over the next week, I began the process, and slowly but surely, Pope Pius XII became Pope Leo XIV. I even shared a video of this transformation on social media, if you would like to see it. I have posted some progress photos below.
