Pope Leo XI was born Alessandro Ottaviano de'Medici in Florence in 1535. A nephew of Leo X, he was in his youth the favourite disciple of Philip Neri and was created a cardinal in 1583. Elderly and frail in health by the time he was elected pope, he reigned for only twenty - seven days in April 1605. Pope Leo is depicted here with Saint Antoninus (1389-1459), his predecessor as Archbishop of Florence and the founder of the Dominican Friary of San Marco, Florence, with which Leo had close relations