After the death of Charles d'Amboise in 1511, Leonardo accepted the protection of Giuliano de Medici, brother of the future Pope Leo X, with whom he then traveled to the papal court in Rome. Leonardo, by now 61 years old, apparently hoped to become a court painter there.
However, he never received any major commissions, comparable to those that the Pope had given to Raphael and Michelangelo.
Both these artists were working in Rome at the time
but Leonardo had little direct contact with them. During this time
he probably created St. John the Baptist (c.1513-1516), and there is one more John the Baptist (featuring many attributes of Bacchus, c. 1513-1516), which is also identified with Leonardo.
