Art, Patronage, and Nepotism in Early Modern Rome

Drawing  on rich archival research and  focusing on works by leading artists  including Guido Reni and Gian  Lorenzo Bernini, Karen J. Lloyd  demonstrates that cardinal nephews in  seventeenth-century Rome – those  nephews who were raised to the  cardinalate as princes of the Church –  used the arts to cultivate more  than splendid social status.

Through   politically savvy frescos and emotionally evocative displays of   paintings, sculptures, and curiosities, cardinal nephews aimed to  define  nepotism as good Catholic rule. Their commissions took advantage  of  their unique position close to the pope, embedding the defense of  their  role into the physical fabric of authority, from the storied  vaults of  the Vatican Palace to the sensuous garden villas that fused  business and  pleasure in the Eternal City. This book uncovers how  cardinal nephews  crafted a seductively potent dialogue on the nature of  power, fuelling  the development of innovative visual forms that  championed themselves as  the indispensable heart of papal politics.

The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, early modern studies, religious history, and political history.