Jacopo was Bishop of Paphos, in Cyprus, and had been named commander of the papal fleet by the Borgia pope, Alexander VI.

[1] This painting recalls one of Titian's earliest paintings Jacopo Pesaro being presented by Pope Alexander VI to Saint Peter, c. 1510-11[2] Titian shows his patron in a devotional pose, kneeling before the Virgin and presented to her by Saint Peter.

Prominently displayed on the step is Saint Peter's key; its diagonal plane, leading toward the Virgin, parallels that of Jacopo.

The back of this angel is juxtaposed with the infant Christ, who turns playfully on Mary's lap and looks down at Saint Francis, who returns his gaze.

By doing this, he allowed for a greater sense of movement through the painting, presaging the Baroque period's more complicated compositional techniques.

[4] The outdoors setting suggests that the activity is taking place in a portico, in which the grandeur of the columns somehow belittles the human beings which leave the figures and the viewer almost in awe of the greater implied force.