Art and Identity in Early Modern Rome (review)

The twelve essays gathered in Art and Identity in Early Modern Rome contribute to our understanding of the unique social and conceptual structures within which artists and patrons operated over the course of two centuries, between 1450 and 1650. Since the publication of Francis Haskell’s classic Patrons and Painters: A Study in the Relations between Italian Art and Society in the Age of the Baroque (London, 1963), the study of artistic patronage in Rome has been greatly enriched by scholars who have explored the social dimension of art, viewing it as a revealing index of familial, institutional, political, and spiritual identity. Although the twelve contributing authors understandably do not speak with the same voice, their essays effectively reinforce one another and add up to much more than the sum of their parts. This is due, in no small part, to the disciplined hands of the editors and the opportunity for all of the authors to discuss their research in a 2005 workshop at the British School at Rome.

The essays are organized into four thematic groups, the first of which examines the mechanics of patronage. Irene Fosi considers the changing status—juridical and social—of foreign residents in Rome and the implications for artistic patronage. Piers Baker Bates explores the revealing case of Girolamo Bencucci da Schio, a bishop who rose from humble origins in the Veneto to negotiate a position of prominence in Rome, where he supported Sebastiano del Piombo. Guido Guerzoni’s essay, which focuses on the Este cardinals in the sixteenth century, illuminates how artists were recruited and compensated. His research reveals a preference for employing artists for specific commissions rather than according them salaried positions.

The second group of essays considers cardinals and their worldly goods, illuminating the complex relationship between the material world and Christian devotion. Mary Hollingsworth reconstructs the responsibilities of Ippolito d’Este, cardinal protector of France, in 1560. Clare Robertson, in one of the most stimulating essays, offers an instructive comparison between the patronage of a cardinal from a well-established family (Odoardo Farnese) and that of a relative parvenu (Pietro Aldobrandini), illustrating how different the patronage strategies and aesthetic judgments of two princely cardinals could be. Equally valuable is Karin Wolfe’s contribution, which focuses on Cardinal Antonio Barberini’s use of the arts for political ends. As cardinal protector of France, he went so far as to give his support to an iconographic program for the French national Church in Rome that directly challenged the authority of the papacy.

The third group of essays explores the dynamics of family identity in papal Rome. For papal families, status was ephemeral; for the native nobility, the dominance of Roman society by foreign clerics posed distinct challenges. Christina Strunck’s incisive essay shows how the oldest and most illustrious of Roman families, the Colonna, consciously employed artistic commissions to combat the loss of power that occurred in the transition from the Barberini to the Pamphilj pontificates. Susan Russell argues that Pope Innocent X elevated the genre of landscape painting as part of a distinctive artistic policy. Lisa Beaven examines Camillo Massimo’s role as art agent of the Altieri, revealing how he used his artistic expertise and connections to construct a cultural identity for the papal family.

The last group of essays explores the relationship between individual and institution, with an emphasis on how the popes employed the visual arts to construct different kinds of lineage. Carol Richardson’s essay on fifteenth-century papal tombs in St. Peter’s makes the apt observation that their placement against the sagging south wall of the Constantinian basilica showed them to be buttressing the fabric of the church. Opher Mansour’s investigation of papal state portraiture reveals changing attitudes toward the representation of the temporal and spiritual powers vested in the person of the pope. Maarten Delbeke’s essay shows how Pope Urban VIII used painted galleries to situate the time...