View Page: Divine Nepotism

	Divine Nepotism
	written by lmschultz / 08.01.2005

Section One

1 of 7

Introduction

Fig. 1

Maffeo Barberini, Urban VIII

Fig. 2

Palazzo Barberini, engraving by Specchi, 1699

The reign of Urban VIII had arguably the greatest impact on the artistic and cultural climate of seventeenth-century Rome. A published poet and already a major patron as cardinal, Maffeo Barberini’s rise to the papacy thrilled the Italian intellectual establishment. During his twenty-one year pontificate he created an unsurpassed model of magnificent patronage, spending lavishly on beautifying Rome. With a similar spending zeal Urban, like many popes before him, strove to enrich and empower his family. But despite the worldly splendor his patronage brought the Roman populace, when word of Urban’s death spread to the city there was jubilation. Criticism was aimed primarily at the many honors, offices, properties and unspeakable wealth the pope had indulged upon his three nephews. Elected to the papacy from relative obscurity, Urban had gone to considerable expense to persuade the Roman nobility of the God-given right of his family’s newly elevated status. Finding the triumphant exuberance and celestial illusionism of baroque art and architecture the perfect vehicle for expressing this message, Urban spared no expense in employing the greatest artists, architects and sculptors to decorate the family’s grand new palace on the Quirinal Hill. Palazzo Barberini thus became the ultimate tool of propaganda, artfully conveying the political and social agenda of the family.

Acclaimed art historian Rudolf Wittkower states in his Art and Architecture in Italy 1600-1750, Pietro da Cortona is the third name of the great trio of Roman High Baroque artists, along with Bernini and Borromini, yet his contribution remains less well known than the other two. Cortona was by far the most influential painter in all of Italy in his day with large frescos constituting the basis for his highly successful career. The seventeenth century was the great age of the painted ceiling and Cortona contributed significantly to this phenomenon. His stylistic synthesis and mastery of visual language appealed to both popes and monarchs eager to express their elevated positions and ideologies. He was called upon by several of the most powerful and influential families in Italy, eager to decorate newly purchased or renovated palaces with monumental, elaborate frescos praising the virtues associated with their highly esteemed family name. The Barberini brought in Pietro da Cortona to decorate their new palazzo, ultimately leading to his coveted commission in 1632 for the great ceiling of the Salone.

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