Papal Art and Cultural Politics: Rome in the Age of Clement XI by Christopher M. S. Johns (review)

286 BOOK REVIEWS this surely will be the standard account well into the future, and we are all in Professor Ingle's debt for providing it. T. L. Underwood University ofMinnesota, Morris Papal Art and Cultural Politics: Rome in the Age of Clement XI. By Christopher M. S. Johns. (New York: Cambridge University Press. 1993· Pp. xiv, 269. Î75.00.) Christopher M. S.Johns's volume on the reign of Clement XI (1700—1721) fills an important gap in the literature on eighteenth-century Roman art and culture. In the past the Albani pope was not considered an important patron, because he directed his energies primarily to restoring and embellishing Early Christian monuments. Johns presents a compelling argument that during the reign ofClement XI the Papacy emerged again as a major presence in patronage following the decline experienced after the death of Alexander VII in 1667 principally on the basis of these same projects. He maintains correctly that Clement's achievements must be assessed in the context of the realities of his own times, not by the standards ofthe High Baroque period. Even iffinancially feasible, conspicuous consumption and familial aggrandizement, to use his words, would have been inappropriate for several reasons. He begins with an overview of the political climate at the turn of the century and follows with a detailed discussion ofintellectual developments, both ofwhich inform Clement 's art patronage. The remainder of the book is devoted to Clement's projects , both major and minor, executed and unexecuted. The War of the Spanish Succession, as expected, was a disaster for the Church. Prior to the outbreak of hostilities, the Catholic monarchs had revealed their intent to secularize religious authority in their realms. Exposed as a weak secular power, the Papacy was now more vulnerable on this front. With papal prestige and influence at a nadir, he turned to the past to support his claims in both the political and spiritual arenas. The Papacy was older than any secular dynasty and its authority was sanctioned by Christ himself through St. Peter, facts that Clement wanted to impress on a European audience . From the beginning of his reign Clement had used culture to advance his political goals. Now it was virtually the only effective weapon he had left. In his formative years Gianfrancesco Albani was an active member of the progressive intellectual circles in Rome. As a result he was fully committed to the reform movement, to scholarship based on reason, and to the spirit of freedom of inquiry. For example, he made major contributions to the bull of 1692 which abolished nepotism. Later as pope, he had the opportunity to put all his beliefs into practice. He assiduously avoided premature promotions of BOOK REVIEWS 287 members of his family in the ecclesiastical ranks, and he avidly supported scholarship in all fields, founding museums and expanding libraries in order to promote Rome as the center of European intellectual life. In particular, the study of sacred history was vital to his political agenda. The resulting Paleochristian revival differed from its antecedents in one important respect: historical accuracy was paramount. Traditions and literary sources were carefully scrutinized for authenticity, using empirical methods. As a result, the Faith was purified by the elimination of spurious practices, an outcome which Clement, an ardent reformer, welcomed. Moreover, the separation offact from fiction lent greater credibility to the former, most particularly the antiquity and the legitimacy of papal authority. The emphasis placed on material evidence as the primary source of truth led to the study of art, architecture, and artifacts of the Early Christian and medieval periods as historical "documents." St. Peter's and St. John Lateran embodied the antiquity and legitimacy of papal authority in both the spiritual and secular realms. Clement built upon and enhanced the iconography of these churches without altering the structures themselves. These projects have to a greater or lesser extent a political component. For example, the Founders series, initiated by Clement, in the nave of St. Peter's complements the seventeenth-century sculpture in the crossing and visually documents the historical continuity of papal authority in spiritual matters. The equestrian statue of Charlemagne in the narthex, which balances Bernini's Constantine...