Alessandro Farnese was the real name of which Pope?

Ruling as Pope from 13 October 1534 to his death in 1549, Paul III was a member of the aristocratic Italian family Farnese, a ducal dynasty ruling the city-state of Parma and a powerful and influential family in Rome. Incidentally Paul III was Bishop of Parma (1509-1534) and almost simultaneously archpriest of the Church of Saint John Lateran in Rome (1508-1534). On top of that, he was protodeacon of the College of Cardinals (1516-1519), the entire body of ordained Roman Catholic cardinals.

Like most popes (and for that matter most rulers) of the 15th to 18th centuries, the most significant legacies of Pope Paul III are as arts patron. Well before becoming Pope and while a cardinal, Paul III commissioned the Palazzo Farnese, completed the same year (1534) he became Pope. Under Paul III, Michelangelo completed work on the high altar fresco in the Sistine Chapel depicting the Last Judgement (1541), almost 30 years after the iconic ceiling frescos in the same place. Once again on commission from Paul III, Michelangelo executed his last 2 paintings, large frescos on the side walls of the Pauline Chapel ('Conversion of Saul/St. Paul' & 'Crucifixion of St. Peter,' 1542-1550).

Paul III was the subject of several portraits by the great Italian painter Titian, some of which may be by members of his workshop. Perhaps arguably the most famous is the one shown above, where Paul III is flanked by his grandsons Alessandro (left, in cardinal's garb) and Ottavio (right).