The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa Submitting to Pope Alexander III in the Presence of a Doge 1556 - 1618

Pietro Malombra made this drawing of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa's submission to Pope Alexander the Third sometime between 1556 and 1618, likely with chalk on paper. It depicts a key moment in the Investiture Controversy when secular and religious power came to a head. Barbarossa’s act of kneeling before the Pope was not just personal but symbolic, a political drama played out on the bodies of leaders. Malombra, working in Venice, a city with its own delicate balance of power between the secular Doge and the church, would have understood the implications of this moment. This image also provides insight into the complex relationship between the artist and the institutions they served. Was Malombra subtly commenting on Venice’s own political landscape? Art historians consult a range of sources—letters, diaries, and official documents—to reveal the political dimensions of art.