Vatican completes official mosaic portrait of Pope Leo XIV for papal basilica
Pope Leo XIV gives a blessing as he stands next to a round mosaic featuring his portrait at the Vatican Jan. 14, 2026. The mosaic will be hung within Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti, Vatican Media)
By OSV News – The Vatican has completed the official mosaic portrait of Pope Leo XIV, continuing a centuries-old tradition that marks the election of each new pontiff. The circular mosaic, known as a tondo, was created by the Vatican Mosaic Studio of the Fabric of St. Peter’s and will be installed in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
The pontiff blessed artists Jan. 14, smiling at the sight of his own image, even as he battled a cold.
The tiles for the mosaic tondo were created using the ancient cut mosaic technique and fixed with traditional Vatican oil stucco — at the request of American Cardinal James Michael Harvey, the archpriest of the basilica.
The mosaic tondo, about 54 inches in diameter, was created with vitreous enamels and gold on a metal structure at the Vatican Mosaic Studio of the Fabric of St. Peter’s.
According to the studio’s website, “the history of the Vatican Mosaic Studio dates from the beginning of the sixteenth century, when Pope Gregory XIII Boncompagni decided to entrust the painter Girolamo Muziano with the mosaic decoration of the dome of the Gregorian Chapel of the Vatican Basilica (1578-1580).”
“Following its success, it was decided to extend this type of decoration also to Michelangelo’s large dome (1603-1612) and to all the domes of the basilica.”
Today, the studio performs a dual function: the conservation of the basilica’s mosaics, with restoration work, and the production of mosaic works for sale to the public.
“Thanks to the skill and experience of its mosaicists, who still use the ancient technical-artistic procedures, works inspired by masterpieces of sacred and profane art are executed. The studio also carries out works on commission and can be visited by appointment,” the studio’s website said.
The mosaic tondo was executed based on a pictorial sketch by Rodolfo Papa, the Vatican said, calling it “an oil on canvas of the same dimensions as the mosaic tondo, specifically conceived for transposition into a mosaic.”
The work will then be installed in the space next to the portrait of Pope Francis, in the right nave of the Basilica, at a height of approximately 42 feet.
The pictorial sketch will be preserved, along with the entire series of portraits of the pontiffs, at the Fabbrica di San Pietro in the Vatican.
