Pope Pius II, frontispiece to a Constitution of the Sienese Church of the Year 1464

This illuminated frontispiece features Pope Pius II, who reigned from 1458 to 1464, above a view of his hometown of Siena and eight Sienese coats of arms. Pius II had an unusual past for a pope, having served as the imperial poet laureate in 1442 at Frederick III’s court. While poet laureate, he wrote what would become a best seller of its time, The Tale of the Two Lovers, a courtly romance. This manuscript cutting is probably a 19th-century copy that was produced for an art market infatuated with the Italian Renaissance.