Oh, no doubt! BTW, the last time I saw that statue in Venice, I had no idea whom it depicted, either, but "popes" definitely would never have been my guess. The swords all four are depicted carrying kind of gives it away.:)

I do think the statue group aesthetically is closer to early medieval sculptures than it is to, say, late Republican/early Empire Roman ones (cahn, think of the famous and endlessly copied statue of Augustus for a contrast and compare depiction of how the first Roman Emperor wanted to be depicted), and a good reminder that any movie or tv show set in the late Roman Empire which has everyone still looking Augustan is not trying. But like I said - of all the possible guesses, "popes" is.... *headdesk*