Papacy and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Rome

Pius VI was the last great papal patron of the arts in the Renaissance and Baroque tradition. This book explores how he used the arts strategically, as a means of countering the growing hostility to the old order and the supremacy of the papacy. Pius' initiatives, included the grand sacristy for St. Peter's, the new Vatican Museum of ancient art, and the re-erection of Egyptian obelisks. These projects, along with Pius' use of prints, paintings, and performances, created Pius' public persona, and helped to anchor Rome's place as the cultural capital of Europe.