Yes, you're right Eugim. I was under the impression that he was bearded, perhaps from a later image that put a beard on him. I can't find it now, but it does seem that contemporary images like yours show him beardless, so he should be considered to have not worn a beard.

It s okay Ross.
As a result of your prior quotations,rightly sustained as ever,the scheme given by Van Rijneberk does not seems too consistent on a hundred per cent.

But what about the Pope of Charles VI deck ?

Then the Visconti proves an exception to the rule, and makes me question the rule generally.

If I were to make a tarot today, and I wanted a pope card, it would NOT be on the current Pope Benedict XVI.

I would create a Pope that was a symbol of what the Pope meant, and I suspect that is what tarot card makers did as well.