Let’s be real: if you search for a picture of Cesare Borgia, you’re probably looking for that one specific guy. You know the one—the brooding, dark-haired man with the piercing stare and the fancy black hat. He looks exactly like a Renaissance villain should. He’s the poster boy for Machiavelli’s The Prince, the guy everyone loves to hate, and the face that supposedly inspired the modern look of Jesus.
But here is the catch. We don’t actually know if that’s him.
In fact, art historians have spent centuries arguing over whether a single "authentic" portrait of the Duke of Valentinois even exists. It’s a bit of a historical mess. We have plenty of descriptions of him being tall, athletic, and "too handsome," but when it comes to a definitive painting done while he was alive, things get murky.
The Famous Face: Altobello Melone’s "Gentleman"
The most famous picture of Cesare Borgia isn’t even titled "Cesare Borgia." It’s officially called Portrait of a Gentleman, and it was painted by Altobello Melone around 1513.
Wait. Did you catch the date?
Cesare died in 1507. He was ambushed in a ditch in Viana, Spain, bleeding out after a life of extreme violence and high-stakes politics. Melone painted this famous image about six years after Cesare was already in the ground.
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So why does everyone say it’s him? Honestly, it’s mostly because the guy in the painting feels like a Borgia. He has that "I might poison your wine" energy. During the 19th century, historians and collectors started slapping Cesare’s name on any anonymous Renaissance portrait that looked sufficiently menacing. The Melone portrait stuck. It’s the image used in every textbook, every Netflix documentary, and every Assassin’s Creed game.
It’s iconic. But it’s probably not him.
The Leonardo Connection
If anyone was going to paint a real picture of Cesare Borgia, it would have been Leonardo da Vinci.
In 1502, Leonardo actually worked for Cesare as a military engineer. He traveled with the Borgia army, mapping out fortifications and designing war machines. You’d think he would have whipped out a sketchbook for his boss at some point, right?
We do have a red chalk sketch by Leonardo titled Three Views of a Bearded Man. Many experts, including Jean-Pierre Isbouts, believe this is the only contemporary likeness of Cesare we have. It’s not a polished oil painting. It’s a raw, quick study of a man from three different angles. He looks weary, a bit older than the Melone "Gentleman," and definitely more like a guy who spends his days in military camps rather than posing in a studio.
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The "Borgia as Jesus" Conspiracy
You've probably heard the rumor. It’s all over TikTok and weird history forums: the reason Jesus looks the way he does in Western art is that Pope Alexander VI (Cesare’s dad) ordered artists to use his son as the model.
Basically, the theory claims the Church wanted to "white-wash" Jesus and used the most handsome guy in Rome to do it.
It’s a wild story. It’s also completely wrong.
If you look at Byzantine icons from the 6th century or mosaics from Ravenna, Jesus already had long hair and a beard centuries before the Borgias even left Spain. The "look" of Jesus was pretty much standardized long before the 1500s. While some artists might have been influenced by the handsome, athletic aesthetic of the Borgia court, the idea that Cesare is the blueprint for Christ is a myth that mostly surfaced in the 19th century to make the Borgias look even more blasphemous than they already were.
Why Do We Care So Much?
There is something about the Borgias that just doesn't quit. They are the original "true crime" family.
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When you look at a picture of Cesare Borgia, you aren't just looking at a face. You're looking at the embodiment of the Renaissance’s dark side. He was a cardinal who resigned to become a prince. He was a man who allegedly murdered his own brother and had an uncomfortably close relationship with his sister, Lucrezia.
History is written by the winners, and the Borgias lost big time. After Pope Alexander VI died, the new Pope, Julius II, hated them so much he tried to erase them from history. He famously said, "I will not live in the same rooms as the Borgias. They are profaners of the faith."
Because their images were often destroyed or hidden, we are left with these "ghost portraits"—paintings of people who look like they could be Cesare, which only adds to the mystery.
How to Spot a "Fake" Cesare
If you're browsing a museum or an online archive and see a picture of Cesare Borgia, check these three things to see if it's legit:
- The Date: If it was painted after 1507, it's a posthumous guess.
- The Artist: Look for names like Pinturicchio (who painted the Borgia apartments) or Leonardo da Vinci. Most others are 18th-century "reimaginings."
- The Face: Is he wearing a mask? Late in life, Cesare allegedly wore a leather mask to hide facial scars from syphilis. If the portrait shows a perfect, glowing complexion from 1505, it's likely an idealized (or fake) version.
What to Do Now
If you’re a history buff or an art lover, don't stop at the Melone portrait. The real visual history of the Borgias is hidden in plain sight.
- Check the Vatican: Look up the Borgia Apartments in the Vatican. Pinturicchio painted frescoes there while the family was in power. You won't find a direct portrait of Cesare, but you’ll see his father and the general "vibe" of the court.
- Look for the Sword: The Victoria and Albert Museum has Cesare’s ceremonial sword. The engravings on it tell us more about how he wanted to be seen—as a new Julius Caesar—than any painting ever could.
- Read the Source Material: If you want to know what he really looked like, skip the images and read the letters of ambassadors who met him. They describe his "flashing eyes" and "terrible" presence.
The hunt for a "real" picture of Cesare Borgia is a bit of a wild goose chase, but that’s exactly why it’s fun. We’re still trying to pin down a man who was a master of reinvention while he was alive. Honestly, he’d probably love the fact that we’re still arguing over his face 500 years later.
To get the best sense of the Borgia era, dive into the works of Pinturicchio or read the dispatches of Niccolò Machiavelli. These sources provide the context that a single, possibly misidentified painting simply cannot capture.